Abstract:
Background: Long term complications of type 1 diabetes mellitus are devastating for
individuals and families and impose a considerable burden to health care systems. Maintaining
strict glycaemic control in type 1 diabetics has been shown to greatly reduce the incidence and
progression of long term complications. Various risk factors have been found to be associated
with poor glycaemic control. Identification of factors associated with poor control in our setting
is critical in order to institute appropriate interventions that will result in improved metabolic
control and prevent chronic complications.
Objective: To assessing glycemic control using serum level of glycosylated hemoglobin
(HbA1c) and its associated factors in children with Type 1 diabetes mellitus(T1DM) at Jimma
University Specialized Hospital (JUSH) Ethiopia.
Methods: A cross-sectional descriptive study was carried out among children and adolescents
being treated at the diabetes clinic of JUSH. A structured questionnaire was used to collect sociodemographic, diabetic related knowledge and practice of the participants and parents/guardians.
The weight and the height of the patients were measured. Fasting blood sugar was also recorded
.Glycemic control was assessed by measurement of serum HbA1c% by using in2itA1c
Analyzer. Data was entered using Epidata version 3.1 and exported to SPSS 16 for analysis.
Mean, standard deviation (SD), analysis, bivariate and multivariable linear regression analyses
were conducted to identify independent predictors of serum HbA1c.The study was conducted
from April 1 to May 30, 2006 E.C.
Results: We studied 60 children 0.25-18 years of age of which 33(55%) were males with a mean
age of 11.81±3.5 yrs. The mean ± SD HbA1c was 10.4±2.6% .Thirty four (56.7%) of them had
poor glycemic control (HbA1c ≥10.0 %), 16(26.7 %) of them had fair glycemic control (8-9.9%)
and only 10(16.7%) of them had good glycemic control (HbA1c<7.9%). The mean % ± SD of
diabetic knowledge of the adolescents and caregivers were 65.79±1.11 and 64.00 ± 1.16
respectively. Fifty one (85%) of patients had good adherence to insulin (did not miss dose in the
past three months prior to data collection) while good adherence to blood glucose monitoring
(BGM) at home and diet was 20 (33.3%) and 4(6.7%) respectively. Meal adherence scored out of
