Comparison of haemoglobin A1c level in insulin pump versus multi daily injections users for type one diabetes mellitus

Background: Saudi Arabia has the 3rd highest rate of type one diabetes in the world. Objectives: To compare HbA1c, lipid profile and acute complications in Continuous Subcutaneous Insulin Infusion (CSII) with multiple daily injections (MDI) users for type one diabetes (T1DM) in Taif city, Saudi Arabia. Settings and Design: Sampling was done for all patients with T1DM and managed either by MDI or CSII. Methods: We recruited all results from May 2015 to January 2018 comparing HbA1c, lipid profile and acute complications. Data collection was done through electronic files. Data was analysed by the Statistical Package of Social Sciences (SPSS). The independent sample 't' test was used to compare continuous variables. Chi-square test was used to compare categorical variables. Results: Of 214 patients, 137 on MDI and 77 on pump were recruited. All HbA1c readings were significantly higher in MDI users (p<0.05). Acute complications were higher in pump users (7.8% and 18.2%) compared to MDI users (2.9% and 6.6%) for each hypoglycaemia and DKA respectively. The occurrence of hypoglycaemia and DKA in MDI and pump users were found to be statistically insignificant, (p=0.155 and p=0.134) and (p=0.790 and p=0.721) respectively. Conclusions: In patients with T1DM, HbA1c was significantly higher in MDI users, conversely, DKA was significantly higher in pump users. Hypoglycemia showed a significant relation to age in MDI group. Lipid profile was statistically insignificant.