Glycemic variability through the perspective of the glycemia risk index and time in range and their association with glycated hemoglobin A1c in pediatric patients on sensor-augmented pump therapy.

Introduction: From the introduction of continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) in treatments of type 1 diabetes, particularly its integration with insulin pumps, there has been a quest for new parameters that describe optimal glycemic control. As of the consensus reached in 2019, the ambulatory glucose profile (AGP) has become the standard, with time in range (TIR) emerging as a fundamental parameter for metabolic control assessment. However, with technological advancements, new parameters, such as the glycemia risk index (GRI), have been introduced and clinically utilized. Therefore, exploring the relationships between traditional and novel parameters to understand metabolic control comprehensively is imperative. Materials and methods: This study was conducted at the Pediatric Clinic of the University Hospital of the Republic of Srpska Banja Luka between January and July 2023. The participants were randomly selected, with the inclusion criteria specifying an age greater than eight years and a diabetes type 1 duration exceeding two years. All participants were required to use a sensor-augmented insulin pump for the next three months (90 days), irrespective of prior use, with the suspend-before-low option activated. Results: Of the 35 participants, 30 completed the study, 14 (46.7%) of whom were male. The mean age of the subjects was 14.90 ± 2.88 years, and the mean duration of diabetes was 7.83 ± 4.76 years. Over the 90-day period, HbA1c increased to an average of 7.31%. The analysis revealed significant effects of TIR (ß=-0.771) and GRI (ß=0.651) on HbA1c. Furthermore, GRI and TIR strongly correlated (ß=-0.953). Discussion and conclusion: New parameters generated from the ambulatory glucose profile (AGP) can help clinicians create a complete picture of a patient's metabolic control in relation to HbA1c levels. Additionally, the GRI is a mathematically tailored parameter that incorporates all components of the ambulatory glucose profile and demonstrates strong correlations with laboratory-measured HbA1c and TIR. The GRI potentially can become a valuable statistical parameter for evaluating and managing patients in routine clinical practice.

Evidence of increasing incidence of type 1 diabetes and ketoacidosis among children in the Republic of Srpska in period 2017-2022 with special focus on COVID-19 global pandemic years.

Background and objectives: Primary focus of the research was to determine the incidence of type 1 diabetes mellitus in the period from 2017 to 2022, and whether COVID-19 had an impact on the increase in the number of newly diagnosed children with diabetes type 1 under the age of 15 in the Republic of Srpska (Bosnia and Herzegovina). In the period 2001-2016 the incidence of type 1 diabetes mellitus was 11/100,000, with an annual increasing rate of 14.2%. Methods: Available data from pediatric endocrinology clinics, in the Republic of Srpska, on the number of newly diagnosed patients with diabetes mellitus in the period from January 1, 2017 until December 31, 2022 were used. A retrospective analysis was performed, and the capture-recapture method was used for the final assessment, and the obtained result corresponds to about 99% of the population. Results: The total number of children in the group of 0-14 years of age diagnosed with type 1 diabetes mellitus in this period was 183, of which 96 (52.46%) were boys, and 87 (47.54%) were girls. The average age at which diabetes mellitus was diagnosed was 8.3 ± 3.9 years. Average incidence of diabetes in the period 2017-2022 was 19/100,000 (95% CI 13.1-25.0). The highest incidence was 28.7/100,000 in 2020, the first year of the global COVID-19 pandemic. Out of a total of 183 newly diagnosed cases in the period 2017-2022, 73 (39.9%) were diagnosed with ketoacidosis upon admission. The largest number of newly diagnosed children was recorded in the group of children aged 10-14 years. Conclusion: In the last 6 years, there has been a significant increase in the incidence of type 1 diabetes mellitus in children under the age of 15. With an incidence of 19.4/100,000 in the Republic of Srpska, we entered the group of countries with high-risk for diabetes. Further steps must focus on the education of the entire society in order to recognize the symptoms of the disease in time and prevent the occurrence of ketoacidosis, which could significantly reduce the burden on health systems, especially in times of global pandemics, such as the COVID-19 pandemic.

The incidence of type 1 diabetes in Republic of Srpska (Bosnia and Herzegovina) and Slovenia in the period 1998-2010.

OBJECTIVE: To establish and compare the incidence and trends of type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) in Republic of Srpska and Slovenia in age group 0-18 yr from 1998 to 2010. METHODS: The subjects (413 newly diagnosed T1DM patients in the Republic of Srpska and 664 in Slovenia) were grouped into the age groups: 0-4, 5-9, 10-14, and 15-18 yr. Confidence intervals (CI) for crude incidence rates were estimated assuming numbers of cases were counts from the Poisson distribution. Gender and age-specific standardization was done according to the EURODIAB criteria. Statistical analysis used Poisson-regression models to analyze difference rate between countries and to investigate the incidence trend. RESULTS: Case ascertainment was estimated to be 99.95% for the Republic of Srpska and 100% for Slovenia by using the capture-recapture method. The standardized incidence of T1DM for age group 0-18 yr in the Republic of Srpska was 7.5/100 000/yr (95% CI: 6.8-8.3). For the same period and the same age group incidence in Slovenia was 12.5/100 000/yr (95% CI: 11.5-13.5). Annual increase in the incidence in the Republic of Srpska was 2.3% (95% CI: -0.3 to 5.0%), whereas in Slovenia 4.3% (95% CI: 2.2-6.5%). CONCLUSION: The incidence for age group 0-18 yr standardized to the world population is remarkably higher in Slovenia than in the Republic of Srpska. Further follow-up and investigations are needed to explain the high difference in incidence of T1DM between the two geographically related countries.