Background: Suboptimal glycaemic control,
measured by glycosylated haemoglobin (HbA1c),
increases the risk for long-term complications in
Type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM).
Aims and objectives:
To calculate and compare glycaemic control in
children with T1DM in Malta during the period
2013 to 2014.
To identify any need for changing way services
are structured and delivered.
Methods: An estimated 96% of all children
with T1DM less than 16 years of age in Malta are
cared for by the same paediatric diabetes team,
based at the main state hospital. The average HbA1c
of all measurements taken every 3 months by HbA1c
analyser was calculated for each patient and these
results were validated by annual laboratory
measurement of HbA1c from venous samples.
Results: Overall, 43.8% of participants in 2013
and 49.6% of participants in 2014 achieved an
HbA1c target of < 7.5%. The mean HbA1c in 2013
was 7.69±0.16% and in 2014 7.67±0.17%. A higher
proportion of patients in the younger age-group
achieved an HbA1c target of <7.5%. The patients
most likely to have a higher HbA1c were in the older
age-groups.
Conclusion: Glycaemic control achieved in
Malta in children aged < 16 years with T1DM was
stable over the two years analysed. Our data is
comparable, or slightly better, to that achieved in
other European countries. However, there is always
room for improvement, as Swedish data have
shown. Multidisciplinary team meetings could be
one way to address those patients not achieving
adequate control.peer-reviewe
