Glycemic variability in a group of Tunisian adolescents with type 1 diabetes mellitus

• Published in: Annales d'endocrinologie 2023-10, Vol.84 (5), p.655-655
• Main Authors: Mahjoub, F., Bani, I., Ben Amor, N., El Amri, A., Mizouri, R., Ben Othmen, R., Jamoussi, H.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• ISSN: 0003-4266
• DOI: 10.1016/j.ando.2023.07.425

Glycemic variability (GV) is emerging as an important metric to consider when assessing glycemic control in clinical practice. The aims of our study were to study glycemic variability among a group of adolescents with type 1 diabetes (DT1) and to determine the factors influencing GV. This is a cross-sectional study, conducted at the National Institute of Nutrition in Tunis during 2021, including (DT1) patients who underwent continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) for 6days. The coefficient of variability CV=(SD/mean glucose)×100. Our study included 81 patients, of which 47 are girls and 34 are boys. The average age was 16.6±2 years and the mean duration of diabetes was 6.26±4years. Age of onset of diabetes varies between 1 and 18years with an average of 10.4±4years. Patients with glycated hemoglobin (HB1AC) greater than 7% had an average CV of 39±12% while those with a Hb1Ac less than 7%had an average CV of 40±11%. The majority of patients had glycated hemoglobin greater than 7% (89% of patients). Furthermore, more than half of the patients had a coefficient of variation of glucose (CV) greater than 36%. The average CV was 39±12%. The CV was significantly correlated to the age of patients (r=0.25, P=0.025) and to the duration of diabetes (r=0.35, P=0.001). However, CV was negatively correlated with age of diabetes onset (r=−0.23, P=0.036). HB1AC was correlated to the CV (r=0.22, P=0.049). GV is a more meaningful measure of glycemic control than HbA1c in clinical practice.