Diabetic ketoacidosis at diabetes onset: still an all too common threat in youth.
OBJECTIVE
To define the demographic and clinical characteristics of children at the onset of type 1 diabetes (T1D), with particular attention to the frequency of diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA).


METHODS
The Pediatric Diabetes Consortium enrolled children with new-onset T1D into a common database. For this report, eligible subjects were aged <19 years, had a pH or HCO(3) value recorded at diagnosis, and were positive for at least one diabetes-associated autoantibody. Of the 1054 children enrolled, 805 met the inclusion criteria. A pH of <7.3 and/or HCO(3) value of <15 mEq/L defined DKA. Data collected included height, weight, hemoglobin A1c, and demographic information (eg, race/ethnicity, health insurance status, parental education, family income).


RESULTS
The 805 children had a mean age of 9.2 years, 50% were female; 63% were non-Hispanic Caucasian. Overall, 34% of the children presented in DKA, half with moderate or severe DKA (pH <7.2). The risk for DKA was estimated as 54% in children aged <3 years and 33% in those aged ≥ 3 years (P = .006). In multivariate analysis, younger age (P = .002), lack of private health insurance (P < .001), African-American race (P = .01), and no family history of T1D (P = .001) were independently predictive of DKA. The mean initial hemoglobin A1c was higher in the children with DKA compared with those without DKA (12.5% ± 1.9% vs 11.1% ± 2.4%; P < .001).


CONCLUSIONS
The incidence of DKA in children at the onset of T1D remains high, with approximately one-third presenting with DKA and one-sixth with moderate or severe DKA. Increased awareness of T1D in the medical and lay communities is needed to decrease the incidence of this life-threatening complication.
Department of Pediatrics, Barbara Davis Center for Childhood Diabetes, University of Colorado School of Medicine, Aurora, CO, USA.
Georgeanna J
GJ
Klingensmith
William V
WV
Tamborlane
Jamie
J
Wood
Michael J
MJ
Haller
Janet
J
Silverstein
Eda
E
Cengiz
Satya
S
Shanmugham
Craig
C
Kollman
Siew
S
Wong-Jacobson
Roy W
RW
Beck
D002648:Child; D003922:Diabetes Mellitus, Type 1 / Q000150:complications*; D016883:Diabetic Ketoacidosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D008297:Male; D011446:Prospective Studies