Temporal Trends for Diabetes Management and Glycemic Control Between 2010 and 2019 in Korean Children and Adolescents with Type 1 Diabetes

Purpose: There is increasing use of modern devices in the management of patients with type 1 diabetes (T1D). We investigated temporal trends for diabetes management and outcomes in Korean pediatric T1D patients over 10 years. Methods: We retrospectively collected the data from 752 participants (boys: 311, 41.4%) diagnosed with T1D and aged ≤18 years, with ≥1 year of follow-up between 2010 and 2019 in any of the seven study hospitals in Korea. Results: Over the 10-year study period, use of continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) increased from 1.4% to 39.3%. From 2010 to 2019, there was an increased use of multiple daily insulin injections (MDI; 63.9%–77.0%, respectively) and continuous subcutaneous insulin infusion (CSII; 2.1%–14.0%, respectively), but decreased use of conventional insulin therapy (CIT, 33.9%–9.0%, respectively). Mean glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) decreased from 8.56% to 8.01% ( P < 0.001) and was lower in younger patients, boys, and CGM users ( P < 0.001). MDI and CSII users had lower mean HbA1c levels than CIT users ( P = 0.003). Regarding the acute complications of T1D, CGM use was associated with lower incidences of diabetic ketoacidosis ( P = 0.015); CSII users were likely to experience less severe hypoglycemia ( P = 0.008). Conclusions: The use of CSII and CGM increased ∼7- and 30-fold, respectively, over the 10-year study period. The glycemic control of pediatric T1D patients in Korea improved from 2010 to 2019, probably because of increased use of T1D technologies.