Telemedicine increased medical visits and HbA1c determinations in kids with Type 1 Diabetes

The research is published in the Diabetes Technology & Therapeutics Journal.

Mr. Valeria Hirschler and colleagues carried out the present research with the objective to measure the changes in the number of medical visits and the number of HbA1c determinations according to telemedicine access in children with type 1 diabetes (T1DM) during the pandemic 2020 compared with 2019 and 2018.

The authors conducted a multinational study of children with T1DM from four Latin American countries. The number of medical visits, the number of HbA1c determinations, and access to telemedicine during 2020 were extracted from their records. The study sample included a total of 227 children, out of which 59% included females with a mean age group of 12.7± 3.2 years with a duration of 5.4 ± 2.7 years of T1DM in 2018.

The following findings were observed-

a. There was a higher prevalence of children with telemedicine access in the pandemic 2020 vs. those without (145(63.9%) vs. 82 (36.1%); p<0.01)

b. There was a higher number of medical visits during 2020 in children with telemedicine access vs. those without (6.9 vs. 2.6; p<0.01).

c. Children with telemedicine access had a higher number of visits in 2020 vs. 2018 (6.87 vs. 5.04, p<0.01), but similar to 2019.

d. Children without access had a lower number of visits in 2020 vs. 2019 (2.6 vs. 5.5; p<0.01) and vs. 2018 (2.6 vs. 5.1; p<0.01).

e. In 2020, the number of HbA1c determinations in children with telemedicine access was higher vs. those without (1.8 vs. 0.9; p<0.01).

f. Children with telemedicine access had a lower number of Hb A1c determinations in 2020 vs. 2019 (1.8 vs. 2.4; p<0.01), but similar to 2018.

g. Furthermore, children without access had a lower number of Hb A1c determinations in 2020 vs. 2019 (0.9 vs. 1.9; p<0.01) and vs. 2018 (0.9 vs. 2.0; p<0.01).

Hence, the authors concluded that the children diagnosed with type 1 Diabetes mellitus with access to telemedicine experienced a significantly higher number of medical visits and HbA1c determinations during lockdown than those without access of telemedicine.