Characteristics of insulin registry patients with Type 1 diabetes in Sri Lanka

Abstract

Background: There is a paucity of literature on epidemiology of type 1 diabetes (T1D) in Sri Lanka. This study reviews the characteristics of patients registered in an insulin bank programme in Sri Lanka. Materials and Methods: Data were collected and analysed from records of all 672 patients diagnosed with T1D registered in the insulin bank with dates of the diagnosis ranging from 1971 to 2016. Results: Of the 672 patients, age at the diagnosis ranged from the day of birth to 44 years. The majority of patients, 526 (78.3%) were diagnosed before 15 years of age, with 7 (1.0%) cases diagnosed before 6 months. Females accounted for 56.8% of cases. The ethnic distribution of T1D in the study population was consistent with the overall population. Conclusion: This study gives some insight into the epidemiological features of T1D in young people in Sri Lanka. The peak age at the diagnosis is similar to studies in the western countries. This study also demonstrated a slight female predominance and a small but significant number of cases diagnosed in infancy. Further epidemiological and clinical research would help guide organisation of care and distribution of resources in the management of T1D in Sri Lanka.

Keywords

• Children
• diabetes mellitus
• developing countries
• Sri Lanka