Pubertal development in children diagnosed with diabetes mellitus type 1 before puberty.

Study Objective: To investigate an association between pubertal development and timing of menarche with glycemic control, disease duration, and body mass index (BMI) in patients diagnosed with diabetes mellitus type 1 (DM1) before puberty.
Design: Retrospective study.
Setting: The study was performed at the diabetes outpatient clinic of Instituto de Puericultura e Pediatria Martagão Gesteira--IPPMG of the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro--UFRJ.
Participants: A total of 131 children, 61 girls and 70 boys, diagnosed with DM1 before puberty participated in the study.
Main Outcome Measures: The study investigated how age at puberty onset relates to mean glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) before puberty, BMI percentile, and disease duration; how puberty duration relates to mean HbA1c before and during puberty and to disease duration; and how timing of menarche relates to mean HbA1c before puberty, BMI percentile, and disease duration.
Results: Age at puberty onset was positively correlated with mean HbA1c before puberty (r = 0.204, R(2) = 0.042; P = .019) and disease duration (r = 0.451, R(2) = 0.203; P < .0001), and negatively correlated with BMI percentile (r = -0.289, R(2) = 0.084; P = .001). Timing of menarche was negatively correlated with BMI percentile (r = -0.556, R(2) = 0.310; P < .001).
Conclusions: Children with longer disease duration began puberty later than those diagnosed more recently. Girls in higher BMI percentiles reached menarche sooner.