Background: Prior research found increases in type 1 and type 2 diabetes (T1D/T2D) among youth during the COVID-19 pandemic but did not focus on age, sex, or race/ethnicity variation. We examined incidence rates from 2016-2021 in Kaiser Permanente Southern California (KPSC), a large, integrated healthcare delivery system.

Methods: KPSC members <20 years old, with no diabetes prior to their incidence year were followed using electronic health records for diabetes defined using diagnoses, labs, and diabetes medications. We calculated age- and sex-standardized incidence rates per 100,000 person-years (PY) for T1D and T2D between 2016-2021 overall and by age, sex, and race/ethnicity. We used Poisson regression to calculate incidence rate ratios (IRR) comparing 2020-2021 to 2016-2019.

Results: Incidence of T1D increased from 18.5/100,000 PY in 2016-2019 to 22.4/100,000 PY in 2020-2021 with increased IRR among 10-19-year-olds, both sexes, and Hispanic individuals. (Table) Incidence of T2D increased from 14.8/100,000 PY in 2016-2019 to 24.7/100,000 PY in 2020-2021 with increased IRR among 10-19-year-olds, both sexes, and those with non-Hispanic Black, Hispanic, and other/unknown race/ethnicity.

Conclusion: Incidence of both T1D and T2D increased following the start of the pandemic. Future research to understand potential underlying physiologic and behavioral risk factors is warranted.

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Disclosure

M.T.Mefford: None. R.Wei: None. E.Lustigova: None. J.P.Martin: None. K.Reynolds: Research Support; Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation.

© 2023 by the American Diabetes Association
2023
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