Aims: To analyse current therapeutic strategies for prandial insulin substitution in a large number of children and adolescents with Type 1 diabetes in Germany and Austria, along with changes in therapeutic habits and outcome.
Methods: We classified the data of 26 687 patients, treated from 1995 to 2005 in 152 paediatric clinics, using a database established for quality control and scientific surveys in paediatric diabetology (DPV).
Results: Seventy-three per cent of all patients (mean age 13.6 years., mean duration of diabetes 5.4 years.) were treated with > or = 4 daily injections (intensified conventional treatment; ICT), 14% with continuous subcutaneous insulin infusion (CSII), 13% with 1-3 injections per day (conventional treatment). Frequency of daily injections increased with age, duration of diabetes and insulin dose. The insulin dose at breakfast was higher than for the evening meal or lunch, from diagnosis onwards. Individuals using insulin analogues received up to 11% higher insulin doses per day compared with patients treated with human insulin. The time of day, age, duration of diabetes, female gender, insulin analogues and ICT all had a significant influence on prandial insulin doses. Although the number of patients treated with ICT or CSII increased over the period of observation, mean glycated haemoglobin (HbA(1c)) was approximately 8.0% each year, and decreased by only 0.01%.
Conclusions: Eighty-seven per cent of patients were treated with ICT or CSII. However, while this percentage increased over the observation period, mean HbA(1c) was almost constant. Longer duration of diabetes, increasing age, female gender, insulin analogues and ICT were associated with higher prandial insulin doses.