Introduction and Objective: Reports from year 1 of the COVID-19 pandemic showed an increase in frequency and acuity of type 1 diabetes (T1D) and type 2 diabetes (T2D) in youth at diagnosis. It is unclear whether this changed as the pandemic progressed. This study aims to describe the US national trends in the frequency and characteristics of youth with new onset diabetes for the first 2 years of the pandemic and the 2 preceding years.
Methods: The TrenDY Consortium includes 23 academic centers. Standardized data retrospectively aggregated the frequency of T1D and T2D in youth ≤ 18 yr age quarterly for 2 years pre-pandemic (Yr 1: 3/1/18 to 2/28/19, Yr 2: 3/1/19 to 2/29/20) and during the pandemic (Yr 3: 3/1/20 to 2/28/21, Yr 4: 3/1/21 to 2/28/22). Mixed effects negative binomial model and broken stick model were used to study change in T1D and T2D frequency and mixed effects linear regression model used to trend proportions of DKA and hyperosmolar DKA (HDKA).
Results: Frequency of T1D was 4,851 cases pre-pandemic and 5,955 during the pandemic. The rate of DKA in T1D was higher during (45%) vs pre-pandemic (40%, p=0.004). The increase in frequency of T1D from Yr 2 to Yr 3 and Yr 3 to Yr 4 attributable to pandemic was insignificant. For T2D, frequency of new cases was 1,610 before and 3,443 during the pandemic. Rates of DKA and HDKA in T2D were higher during the pandemic period (DKA: 12% vs 9%, p=0.027, and HDKA: 3% vs 1.3%, p=0.002). The increase in T2D frequency attributable to pandemic from Yr 2 to Yr 3 was 57% (p<0.05), while the increase from Yr 3 to Yr 4 was lower and not significant (9.9%, p=0.37). The frequency of both T1D and T2D decreased sharply in the last 6 months of the reporting period.
Conclusions: Both the frequency and acuity of T1D and T2D worsened during the pandemic but declined between Sept 2021 and Feb 2022. Compared to T1D, a significant change in frequency of T2D between Y2 and Y3 was observed due to the pandemic. This suggests that the environment created by the pandemic differentially impacted the rates of T1D and T2D in youth.
A. Lahoti: Research Support; Dexcom, Inc. V.C. Benavides: None. M.E. Bianco: None. A. Choudhary: None. A.L. Clark: None. K. Cossen: None. A. Creo: Advisory Panel; Sanofi. M. Gallagher: None. J. Gardner: None. T.S. Hannon: Advisory Panel; Eli Lilly and Company. M. Khan: None. B.E. Marks: Research Support; Tandem Diabetes Care, Inc., Dexcom, Inc., Medtronic, Digostics. Advisory Panel; International Society for Pediatric and Adolescent Diabetes, American Diabetes Association, T1D Exchange. Board Member; Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF). C. Pinnaro: None. M.A. Stefater-Richards: Research Support; Dexcom, Inc. V.V. Thaker: None. J.B. Tryggestad: Other Relationship; Ascendis Pharma A/S. K.A. Wintergerst: None. R.M. Wolf: Research Support; Dexcom, Inc., Boehringer-Ingelheim, Novo Nordisk.
National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (UL1TR002733)