Age at diagnosis, anthropometry and birthweight in two ethnically different cohorts of children with type 1 diabetes living in Northwest England or Singapore. (7th February 2022)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Ng, Sze May; Chandrasekaran, Surendran; Nesbitt, Victoria; Grey, Alexandra; Lim, Pei Kwee; Hui, Yuen Ching; Lek, Ngee
• Is Part Of: Acta pædiatrica. Volume 111:Number 5(2022)
• Page Start: 1070
• Page End: 1074
• Publication Date: 2022-02-07
• Subjects: anthropometry -- birth size -- diabetes mellitus type 1; Pediatrics -- Periodicals; Pediatrics; 618.92
• DOI: 10.1111/apa.16274
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0803-5253

Abstract

Abstract: Aim: To compare children with type 1 diabetes (T1D) living in the Northwest England, United Kingdom (UK) or Singapore, and to correlate age at diagnosis with birthweight and anthropometry at T1D diagnosis. Methods: We included 166 T1D children of white ethnicity in England (UK‐White) and 185 T1D children of East‐Asian ethnicity origin in Singapore (SG‐Asian) who were born between 2002 and 2020. Results: The cohorts from UK‐White and SG‐Asian children differed significantly in FH of T1D ( p < 0.001), FH of T2D ( p < 0.001) and pubertal status at diagnosis ( p = 0.01). Median interquartile range (IQR) for age at diagnosis was similar in the two groups. UK‐White children had significantly higher birthweight SDS, height SDS, weight SDS and BMI SDS (all p < 0.001). Among the subgroup of 174 children who were prepubertal and diagnosed after age 5 years, the UK‐White children were 11 months older than the SG‐Asian children ( p = 0.02) indicating that SG‐Asian children at the time of T1D diagnosis were more likely to be in puberty compared with UK‐White children (30% vs. 18%). Conclusion: These two cohorts have substantially different genetic and environmental backgrounds, yet age at the diagnosis of T1D was similar except for the prepubertal children who were diagnosed after 5 years old. Timing of puberty and other factors may influence how early T1D presents during childhood.