Keywords:
Adolescents; glycemic control; insulin pump therapy; type 1 diabetes
Abstract:
Adolescence is a challenging time for managing diabetes, with recent data from the type 1 diabetes (T1D) exchange highlighting teenagers have the highest risk of poor glycemic control. Insulin pump therapy (CSII) is a standard treatment modality for patients with type 1 diabetes but caution in the use of CSII therapy in this group stems from the potential for metabolic decompensation to diabetic ketoacidosis because of the sole use of rapid acting insulin, or secondary to experience bias that is in conflict with published data supporting the use of CSII. To evaluate the safety and efficacy of CSII in adolescents (aged 14-17 years) with T1D for > 1 year, insulin pump naïve and with very poor glycemic control (defined for this study as an average HbA1c >10.0% in the preceding 6 months) we conducted a prospective cohort study over a 12-month period.