Prevalence, patterns of clinical presentation, and the outcome of treatment of diabetes mellitus among paediatric patients in a tertiary care facility

Background: Diabetes mellitus is a multi-systemic disease condition characterized by elevated blood glucose level which can be due to relative or absolute deficiency of insulin secretion or action or a combination of both in humans including paediatric patients which disproves the thought that it is a disease of adults alone. Methods: The study was a retrospective descriptive cross-sectional full population study that involved getting the total population of 7880 paediatric patients that presented to the hospital facility within 3-years (from January 2019-December 2021) and from the total population getting the patients diagnosed with diabetes mellitus. A well-structured proforma was used to collect the relevant data needed from the case files of the patients. Statistical data analysis was done with SPSS version 25. Results: The study showed that out of 7880 paediatric patients that presented to the facility, 20 of them were diagnosed and treated for diabetes mellitus giving a prevalence of 0.25 per 100 patients. The paediatric patients diagnosed with diabetes mellitus were aged 8-18years; 11 females and 9 males. This study showed that about 75.0% of the paediatric patients with DM fully recovered following treatment and was subsequently discharged; however about 95% of these patients were lost to follow-up. Conclusions: Adequate measures needs to be put in place to ensure that the management of these patients are highly optimal and does not constitute much financial burden to the caregivers, in order to improve compliance to treatment and hence reducing morbidity and mortality associated with the condition.