title: Adherence to clinical practice guidelines in the management of children, youth, and young adults with type 1 diabetes--a prospective population cohort study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To describe adherence to clinical practice guidelines for the treatment of childhood type 1 diabetes and identify associated patient and system level factors.
  
  
  METHODS
  This prospective cohort study used population-based administrative data to describe individuals aged 1-24 years who had been diagnosed with type 1 diabetes at <20 years of age (1472 unique individuals and 5883 person-years over a 7-year period) living in British Columbia, Canada. The outcome measure was proportion 'at goal,' which was defined as having optimal adherence (3 diabetes-related physician visits/year, 3 hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) tests/year, 1 glucagon prescription dispensed/year, and appropriate screening for diabetes-related comorbidity [ie, hypothyroidism] and complications [ie, retinopathy and nephropathy]), or good adherence to guidelines (2 diabetes-related physician visits/year, 2 HbA1c tests/year, and appropriate screening for diabetes-related comorbidity and complications). Statistical methods included descriptive statistics and logistic regression modeling.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Fifty-four percent person-years had poor adherence to guidelines (<2 diabetes-related physician visits and HbA1c tests/year) and 7.4% had optimal adherence. The proportion of person-years at goal was higher in females vs males (41.0% vs 37.6%; P = .007). Individuals 4-years post-diagnosis of diabetes were 78% less likely to be at goal compared with the year of diagnosis (P < .0001).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The treatment of pediatric type 1 diabetes likely does not meet national and international standards. Future studies should explore facilitators and barriers to adherence to guidelines among health care providers, patients, and families, and whether adherence to guidelines is associated with glycemic control.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. samed@cw.bc.ca
authors.forename: Shazhan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Amed
authors.forename: Kimberly
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Nuernberger
authors.forename: Patrick
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: McCrea
authors.forename: Kim
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Reimer
authors.forename: Hans
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Krueger
authors.forename: Sema K
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Aydede
authors.forename: Dieter
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Ayers
authors.forename: Jean-Paul
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Collet
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003922:Diabetes Mellitus, Type 1 / Q000628:therapy*; D005260:Female; D019983:Guideline Adherence / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D011446:Prospective Studies; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: BCCH; British Columbia Children's Hospital; DAD; Discharge abstract database; GP; General practitioner; HbA1c; Hemoglobin A1c; MSP; Medical Services Plan; POC; Point-of-care