When people with type 1 diabetes become adults - Diabetes technology and transition - do we need new models?

Dtsch Med Wochenschr. 2021 Sep;146(18):1200-1205. doi: 10.1055/a-1332-4603. Epub 2021 Sep 14.

ABSTRACT

Approximately 40 % of adolescents with type 1 diabetes lose contact with specialty care at transfer to adult care, with a marked increase in risk for poor outcomes. Adolescents showed a 2,5-fold increased risk of an HbA_1c level > 9 % after transfer, compared with adolescents who remained in pediatric care. While the use of modern technologies is rapidly increasing in pediatric diabetology, fewer resources are available to address the rapidly changing digital transformation of type 1 diabetes therapy in adult diabetology, not least because of the large number of patients with type 2 diabetes who require care. Therefore, in the transition from children with type 1 diabetes to adult medicine, disparities in resource provision for training and interpretation of new diabetes technologies now add to the problems that have been known for many years. One possible solution would be the creation of regional treatment centers with pediatric and internal medicine care for people with intensive diabetes therapy and use of diabetes technology, as well as the use of telemedicine capabilities. International comparisons show that in centers where pediatric and internal medicine diabetes teams provide age-appropriate care within the same treatment facility, the transition is much less complicated and people with type 1 diabetes benefit from shared experience in the use of diabetes technologies across the lifespan. However, the implementation of such concepts under the framework of the German health care system requires a rethinking among the involved stakeholders and does not seem promising without pressure from the affected people with type 1 diabetes.

PMID:34521125 | DOI:10.1055/a-1332-4603