We aimed to identify the variation in the clinical background of children diagnosed\nwith type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) at King Salman Military Hospital\n(KSMH), Tabuk City, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, from 2000 to 2010.\nMethods: This retrospective observational study was based on the clinical\nrecords of pediatric diabetes outpatients at KSMH. All children aged <12 years\nwho were diagnosed with T1DM and were followed up at the diabetes clinic\nfrom 2000 to 2010, were enrolled. The local variables associated with the clinical\npresentation in these patients, including age, sex, body mass index (BMI),\nand season of onset, were evaluated. Results: Of 313 patients recruited, female\npatients were predominant (p = 0.002). The mean age of onset was 6.46 years\n(standard deviation, 3.02). One-third of the newly diagnosed patients were\noverweight (35.5%). Diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) was the presenting feature\nin 38.0% of patients, wherein female patients and those aged 0 - 3 years exhibited\nthe highest likelihood of developing DKA (odds ratio, 1.7 and 2.9, respectively).\nMoreover, underweight children had a greater DKA incidence\nthan healthy, overweight, or obese children (p = 0.02). Conclusion: This\nstudy provides additional data on T1DM in the population of the Kingdom of\nSaudi Arabia. In particular, we found a female predominance at presentation\nas well as 2 peaks for age at onset. Moreover, the BMI was lower in younger\nage groups overall, but was greater in older boys. Furthermore, the DKA rates\nwere high in younger children. Thus, our data confirm the presence of variable\nclinical patterns in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, which requires further\nepidemiological analysis using national registry data.
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