A Prospective Study of Children Who were Admitted for Diabetes Mellitus at a Jamaican Hospital

摘要

Background: Type 1 diabetes mellitus is the predominant form of youth onset diabetes, and a majority of hospital admissions of this group of patients is usually due to a poor control of diabetes.Objective: This study was undertaken to determine the prevalence of type 1 diabetes mellitus in children who were admitted to the Bustamante Hospital for Children in Jamaica over a ten year period.Methods and Materials: A medical records study was conducted over this ten year period.Results: These showed that there were 77,679 admissions, of which 85 were for type 1 diabetes mellitus. Fifty (50) percent of the latter was between 8-12 years old. Female diabetic patients were twice as that of the males.Conclusion: It appears that one in every thousand children who were admitted to this institution were admitted for type 1 diabetes mellitus, and that girls between the ages of 8-12 years were more at risk.