Diabetes duration, complications, treatment and self-management
practices
The median age of diabetes diagnosis was 19 (12 – 27) years, while the
median duration of diabetes was 14 (8 – 19) years. Median HbA1c was 8.2
(7.3 – 9.2)%. Of the subjects, 15.3% had nephropathy as evidenced by
microalbuminuria (30 – 299 mg/g creatinine) or macroalbuminuria
(>= 300 mg/g creatinine), 6.9% had neuropathy and 15.3%
had retinopathy. Macrovascular complications were present only in a
minority; 3.8% had ischemic heart disease, 0.8% had stroke and 0.8%
had peripheral vascular disease. Glutamic acid decarboxylase (GAD)
antibody results were available for 61.8% of subjects, of which 76.5%
were positive. Islet-cell antibody results were available for 24.4% of
subjects, of which 21.9% were positive. Almost all (94%) subjects were
on multiple daily injections of insulin, as defined by 3 injections or
more per day; 90% were using insulin analogs, with 83% on long acting
basal analogs and 86% on rapid-acting analogs. The median insulin dose
was 0.77 (0.61 – 0.91) units/kg/day.
The majority (93.9%) of subjects were on flexible insulin dosing, with
91.1% adjusting insulin doses for food and 87.0% adjusting insulin
doses for glucose. However, only 49% of subjects reported familiarity
with carbohydrate counting, while 55% reported performing carbohydrate
counting at least daily. A large proportion, 90.8% received prior
T1D-specific education (37.8% in the form of group education and the
remainder as 1:1 teaching). Of those who have not attended T1D specific
education, the reasons cited include not keen to attend (40%),
perceived lack of benefit (40%) and lack of time (20%).