Clinical features at the onset of childhood type 1 diabetes mellitus in Shenyang, China

Aim: To describe the clinical picture and laboratory features of Chinese children with newly diagnosed type 1 diabetes mellitus. Methods: The clinical and laboratory data of a total of 203 children who presented with newly diagnosed type 1 diabetes mellitus during a 5-year period (2004-2008) were retrospectively analysed based on hospital records. Results: There were 88 boys (43.3%) and 115 girls (56.7%) with a median age of 8.3 years. The age distribution was categorised as 0-4 years: 52 (25.6%), 5-9 years: 57 (28.1%) and 10-14 years: 94 (46.3%). We found a peak incidence rate in the older age group. No significant seasonality was observed. The most common symptoms were polydipsia, polyuria and weight loss. Eighty-five (41.9%) of all patients presented with diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA). The average duration of presenting symptoms before the hospital encounter was 24.5 days. Young age group children had shorter duration (17.1 days, P = 0.03) and significantly lower levels of C-peptide (P = 0.003) and haemoglobin A1c (P = 0.049) than the other groups. Children with DKA had a higher incidence of preceding infections (P = 0.032), lower free triiodothyronine and free thyroxine levels (P = 0.035, 0.046), and higher white blood cell counts (P = 0.000) than the non-DKA group. Conclusion: The duration between the onset of the symptoms and diagnosis was long, and the proportion of DKA in children with newly diagnosed diabetes mellitus was high. These findings call for a collaborative effort for the early recognition of symptoms by patients and physicians in order to avoid more severe types of presentation.