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Background: Poor glycemic control early in the course of type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) increases the risk for microvascular complications. However, predictors of deteriorating control after diagnosis have not been described, making it difficult to identify high-risk patients and proactively provide aggressive interventions., Objective: We examined whether diagnostic age, gender, and race were associated with deteriorating glycemic control during the first 5 years after diagnosis., Participants: 2218 pediatric patients with T1DM., Methods: We conducted a longitudinal cohort study of pediatric patients with T1DM from the Midwest USA, 1993-2009, evaluating within-patient glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) trajectories constructed from all available HbA1c values within 5 years of diagnosis., Results: 52.6% of patients were male; 86.1% were non-Hispanic Caucasian. The mean diagnostic age was 9.0±4.1 years. The mean number of HbA1c values/year/participant was 2.4±0.9. HbA1c trajectories differed markedly across age groups, with older patients experiencing greater deterioration than their younger counterparts (p<0.001). HbA1c trajectories, stratified by age, varied markedly by race (p for race×diagnostic age <0.001). Non-Hispanic African-American patients experienced higher initial HbA1c (8.7% vs 7.6% (71.6 vs 59.6 mmol/mol); p<0.001), and greater deterioration in HbA1c than non-Hispanic Caucasian patients across diagnostic ages (rise of 2.04% vs 0.99% per year (22.3 vs 10.8 mmol/mol/year); p<0.0001)., Conclusions: Older diagnostic age and black race are major risk factors for deterioration in glycemic control early in the course of T1DM. These findings can inform efforts to explore the reasons behind these differences and develop preventive interventions for high-risk patients.

Background: Within pediatric diabetes management, two electronic measures of adherence exist: frequency of daily blood glucose monitoring (BGM) and the BOLUS score, a measure of frequency of mealtime insulin bolusing. Past research has demonstrated that the BOLUS score is superior to daily BGM in predicting youths' glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) in a cross-sectional study. We present data comparing the two adherence measures in predicting HbA1c using a prospective, longitudinal design., Subjects and Methods: Blood glucose meter data and insulin pump records were collected from a clinical database of 175 youths with type 1 diabetes (mean age, 11.7 ± 3.6 years at baseline). Youths' HbA1c levels occurring at the download time and at 3, 6, 9, and 12 months post-downloads were also collected. We calculated youths' mean BGM and BOLUS score using a standardized protocol., Results: Intraclass correlations (ICCs) revealed significant absolute equivalence between youths' predicted HbA1c values using BOLUS and BGM scores and future actual HbA1c values up to 12 months post-download. However, the ICCs of BOLUS scores with future HbA1c values were consistently higher than those of the BGM scores. Also, the predictions of the BOLUS scores were significantly more accurate (P ≤ 0.002) than those of the BGM scores based on the root mean squared error of predictions., Conclusions: In a prospective, longitudinal design, youths' BOLUS scores were superior to youths' daily BGM in predicting future values of HbA1c. Calculating a BOLUS score versus BGM can help researchers and clinicians achieve a better prediction of youths' HbA1c.

Background: Electronic measures of adherence can be superior to patient report. In type 1 diabetes, frequency of blood glucose monitoring (BGM), as measured by patients' home blood glucose meters, has already been identified as a valid proxy of adherence. We present methodology to calculate adherence using insulin pump records and evaluate the reliability and validity of this methodology., Subjects and Methods: Blood glucose meter data, insulin pump records, and corresponding hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) levels were randomly gathered from clinical and research databases for 100 children and youths (referred to hereafter as youths) with type 1 diabetes (mean±SD age, 12.7±4.6 years). Youths' mean frequency of daily BGM was calculated. Additionally, we calculated a mean mealtime insulin bolus score (BOLUS): youths received 1 point each for a bolus between 0600 and 1000 h, 1100 and 1500 h, and 1600 and 2200 h (maximum of 1 point/meal or 3 points/day)., Results: Simple correlations between youths' HbA1c level, age, frequency of BGM, and insulin BOLUS scores were all significant. Partial correlations and multiple regression analyses revealed that insulin BOLUS scores better explain variations in HbA1c levels than the electronically recorded frequency of daily blood glucose measures., Conclusions: Our procedures for calculating insulin BOLUS scores using insulin pump records demonstrate better concurrent validity with youths' HbA1c levels than that of the frequency of BGM with youths' HbA1c levels. Our analyses have shown that insulin bolus scoring was superior to the frequency of BGM in predicting youths' HbA1c levels.