Type 1 Diabetes Incidence among School-Aged Children and Adolescents in Sana'a City, Yemen
Hadeel Radwan Elshoubaki1*, Tareq Yahya AlKebsi2, Ronald E LaPorte2
1Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Sana’a University, Sana’a, Yemen.
2Department of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Sana’a University, Sana’a, Yemen.
Correspondence to: Hadeel Radwan Elshoubaki, Department of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Sana’a University, Sana’a, Yemen. E-mail: hr.elshoubaki@gmail.com
Received: January 10, 2021; Accepted: February 16, 2021; Published: February 25, 2021
Citation: Elshoubaki HR, AlKebsi TY, LaPorte RE. Type 1 Diabetes Incidence among School-Aged Children and Adolescents in Sana'a City, Yemen. Arch Med Res Health Sci. 2021;3(1):01-07.
Copyright: © 2021 Elshoubaki HR. This open-access article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
ABSTRACT
Childhood diabetes, once uncommon and often fatal in the early 20th century, has seen a steady rise in incidence by the century's end. This study aimed to assess the prevalence of diabetes among school children and adolescents in Sana’a city, Yemen. Out of a total student population of 26,410 across four educational districts, 2,870 students underwent diabetes screening through urine glucose testing. Initial suspicion from urine testing led to confirmation through blood glucose testing.
Results: Glucosuria in 10 out of 2,870 students, indicating an overall crude prevalence of 0.35% among the investigated school children and adolescents. The diagnosis of type 1 diabetes was confirmed through plasma glucose and C-peptide level testing in both index patients and a control group. Compared to the control group, students with diabetes exhibited significantly higher mean fasting and 2-hour postprandial plasma glucose levels (P < 0.0001) but significantly lower mean fasting serum C-peptide values (P < 0.0001). The age-standardized prevalence rate for the age range of 5-19 years (Census 1994 population-adjusted rate) was determined as 0.36% (95% CI: 0.2-0.5%).
Conclusion: Pediatric-onset Type 1 diabetes demonstrates a relatively prevalent presence among school children and adolescents in Yemen, with a slightly higher frequency among those aged ≥ 15 years, showing no significant difference based on gender.
Keywords: Type 1 Diabetes; Screening.
