The relationship between the age of onset of type 1 diabetes and the subsequent development of a severe eating disorder by female patients.
OBJECTIVE
To determine the age of onset of type 1 diabetes that is most closely related to the subsequent development of a severe eating disorder such as anorexia nervosa (AN) or bulimia nervosa (BN).


METHODS
Participants were 53 female type 1 diabetes patients with AN or BN referred to our outpatient clinic from the Diabetes Center of Tokyo Women's Medical University. Forty-nine female type 1 diabetes patients who regularly visited the Diabetes Center and had no eating disorder-related problems constituted the 'direct control' group, whereas 941 female patients who for the first time visited the Diabetes Center constituted the 'historical control' group. The kernel function method was used to generate a density estimation of the onset age of each group and the chi-square test was used to compare the distribution.


RESULTS
The control groups had similar density shapes for the onset age of type 1 diabetes, but both differed from the 'eating disorder' group. For onset age 7-18 yr, the density of the 'eating disorder' group was higher than those of the control groups, but for the younger and older onset ages the densities were lower. The 'eating disorder' group developed type 1 diabetes significantly more frequently than the 'historical control' group between 7 and 18 yr of age (χ2 = 9.066, p < 0.011).


CONCLUSIONS
The development of type 1 diabetes in preadolescence or adolescence seems to place girls at risk for the subsequent development of AN or BN. Careful attention should be paid to these high-risk patients.
Takii
Masato
M
Department of Psychosomatic Medicine, Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Kyushu University, Fukuoka, Japan. takii@cephal.med.kyushu-u.ac.jp
Uchigata
Yasuko
Y
Kishimoto
Junji
J
Morita
Chihiro
C
Hata
Tomokazu
T
Nozaki
Takehiro
T
Kawai
Keisuke
K
Iwamoto
Yasuhiko
Y
Sudo
Nobuyuki
N
Kubo
Chiharu
C
D000293:Adolescent; D017668:Age of Onset; D000856:Anorexia Nervosa / Q000209:etiology*; D001786:Blood Glucose / Q000378:metabolism; D015992:Body Mass Index; D052018:Bulimia Nervosa / Q000209:etiology*; D002648:Child; D003922:Diabetes Mellitus, Type 1 / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D011627:Puberty; D012189:Retrospective Studies
D001786:Blood Glucose