Increasing incidence and clinical burden of paediatric type 1 diabetes in Italy: insights from a large administrative database

IF 3.1 3区医学 Q2 ENDOCRINOLOGY & METABOLISM

Acta Diabetologica Pub Date : 2026-08-21 DOI:10.1007/s00592-026-02776-4

Enza Mozzillo, Clara Trimarchi, Raffaella Buzzetti, Riccardo Candido, Valentino Cherubini, Basilio Pintaudi, Luca Degli Esposti, Melania Leogrande, Valentina Perrone, Chiara Capodaglio, Georgia Fousteri, Gian Paolo Fadini

{"title":"Increasing incidence and clinical burden of paediatric type 1 diabetes in Italy: insights from a large administrative database","authors":"Enza Mozzillo, Clara Trimarchi, Raffaella Buzzetti, Riccardo Candido, Valentino Cherubini, Basilio Pintaudi, Luca Degli Esposti, Melania Leogrande, Valentina Perrone, Chiara Capodaglio, Georgia Fousteri, Gian Paolo Fadini","doi":"10.1007/s00592-026-02776-4","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>Background</h3><p>Paediatric type 1 diabetes (T1D) is a chronic disease that represents a global public health concern. Italian data describing epidemiology, comorbidity burden, and healthcare resource utilisation (HCRU) of paediatric T1D remain fragmented, mostly deriving from regional registries or limited cohorts.</p><h3>Methods</h3><p>A retrospective observational analysis was conducted using Italian administrative databases corresponding to ~ 12,000,000 individuals. Patients with T1D aged < 18 years were identified during 2010–2023 using diagnostic proxies (insulin prescriptions or diabetes-related hospitalisations). Epidemiological analyses were restricted to healthcare entities with continuous data availability during 2018–2022. Demographic and clinical characteristics were evaluated at baseline. Comorbidity onset, HCRU, and direct costs were assessed during follow-up.</p><h3>Results</h3><p>A total of 3,220 paediatric patients with T1D were identified. Between 2018 and 2022, T1D incidence increased from 16.4 to 22.4 cases/100,000 individuals aged < 18 years (compound annual growth rate [CAGR] + 8.1%), while the prevalence reached 256 cases/100,000 in 2022 (CAGR + 10.0%). Most patients had minimal comorbidity at diagnosis. During follow-up, autoimmune conditions were the most common comorbidities, especially thyroid (8.9%) and coeliac disease (6.0%), often emerging within the first year post-diagnosis.</p><p>HCRU was the highest during the first year, with frequent diabetes-related hospitalisations and prescriptions of diabetes medications. Hospitalisation-related costs declined, whereas pharmaceutical costs increased over time.</p><h3>Conclusions</h3><p>Paediatric T1D is an expanding chronic condition in Italy, characterised by early clustering of autoimmune comorbidities and substantial healthcare utilisation at diagnosis. These findings highlight the need for structured surveillance and coordinated care pathways to support long-term management and healthcare planning.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":6921,"journal":{"name":"Acta Diabetologica","volume":"63 11","pages":"1959 - 1968"},"PeriodicalIF":3.1000,"publicationDate":"2026-08-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s00592-026-02776-4.pdf","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Acta Diabetologica","FirstCategoryId":"3","ListUrlMain":"https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00592-026-02776-4","RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"ENDOCRINOLOGY & METABOLISM","Score":null,"Total":0}

引用次数: 0

Abstract

Background

Paediatric type 1 diabetes (T1D) is a chronic disease that represents a global public health concern. Italian data describing epidemiology, comorbidity burden, and healthcare resource utilisation (HCRU) of paediatric T1D remain fragmented, mostly deriving from regional registries or limited cohorts.

Methods

A retrospective observational analysis was conducted using Italian administrative databases corresponding to ~ 12,000,000 individuals. Patients with T1D aged < 18 years were identified during 2010–2023 using diagnostic proxies (insulin prescriptions or diabetes-related hospitalisations). Epidemiological analyses were restricted to healthcare entities with continuous data availability during 2018–2022. Demographic and clinical characteristics were evaluated at baseline. Comorbidity onset, HCRU, and direct costs were assessed during follow-up.

Results

A total of 3,220 paediatric patients with T1D were identified. Between 2018 and 2022, T1D incidence increased from 16.4 to 22.4 cases/100,000 individuals aged < 18 years (compound annual growth rate [CAGR] + 8.1%), while the prevalence reached 256 cases/100,000 in 2022 (CAGR + 10.0%). Most patients had minimal comorbidity at diagnosis. During follow-up, autoimmune conditions were the most common comorbidities, especially thyroid (8.9%) and coeliac disease (6.0%), often emerging within the first year post-diagnosis.

HCRU was the highest during the first year, with frequent diabetes-related hospitalisations and prescriptions of diabetes medications. Hospitalisation-related costs declined, whereas pharmaceutical costs increased over time.

Conclusions

Paediatric T1D is an expanding chronic condition in Italy, characterised by early clustering of autoimmune comorbidities and substantial healthcare utilisation at diagnosis. These findings highlight the need for structured surveillance and coordinated care pathways to support long-term management and healthcare planning.

查看原文本刊更多论文

意大利儿童1型糖尿病发病率和临床负担的增加：来自大型行政数据库的见解。

背景：儿童1型糖尿病（T1D）是一种慢性疾病，是全球关注的公共卫生问题。意大利描述儿科T1D的流行病学、合并症负担和医疗资源利用（HCRU）的数据仍然零散，主要来自区域登记或有限的队列。方法：使用意大利行政数据库进行回顾性观察分析，数据约为12,000,000人。结果：共发现3220例儿科T1D患者。在2018年至2022年期间，T1D发病率从16.4例/10万名老年人增加到22.4例/10万名。结论：在意大利，儿科T1D是一种不断扩大的慢性疾病，其特点是自身免疫性合并症的早期聚集性和诊断时大量的医疗保健利用。这些发现强调需要结构化的监测和协调的护理途径，以支持长期管理和医疗保健计划。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

求助全文

约1分钟内获得全文求助全文

来源期刊

Acta Diabetologica 医学-内分泌学与代谢

CiteScore

7.30

自引率

2.60%

发文量

180

审稿时长

2 months

期刊介绍： Acta Diabetologica is a journal that publishes reports of experimental and clinical research on diabetes mellitus and related metabolic diseases. Original contributions on biochemical, physiological, pathophysiological and clinical aspects of research on diabetes and metabolic diseases are welcome. Reports are published in the form of original articles, short communications and letters to the editor. Invited reviews and editorials are also published. A Methodology forum, which publishes contributions on methodological aspects of diabetes in vivo and in vitro, is also available. The Editor-in-chief will be pleased to consider articles describing new techniques (e.g., new transplantation methods, metabolic models), of innovative importance in the field of diabetes/metabolism. Finally, workshop reports are also welcome in Acta Diabetologica.