MAGNITUDE OF DIABETIC KETOACIDOSIS IN NEWLY DIAGNOSED DIABETES MELLITUS CHILDREN IN SPHMMC

Abstract

Abstract Background:Diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) is a serious life threatening complication of type 1 diabetes mellitus and constitutes a medical emergency with significant morbidity and mortality, The study is important to contribute to the effort toward reducing morbidity and mortality related to DKA. The findings will also help for policy makers for planning since there is paucity of published data on magnitude of DKA in newly diagnosed DM children in Ethiopia. Objectives: To assess the magnitude and clinical characteristics of DKA in newly diagnosed Diabetic Mellitus children in Addis Ababa. Method: In this retrospective study, the case records of all children with newly diagnosed DM children seen in the Department of pediatrics, in SPHMMC between January 2013 to December 2016 were retrieved using data abstraction sheet/guiding questionnaire from patient card. Data was double entered from the paper-based abstraction sheet and exported to SPSS version 20 for analysis. A descriptive analysis was performed. Result: A Total of 62 newly diagnosed type I dm children of age less than 15 were studied from January 2013 to December 2016, from this 43(63.5%) 0f the children present with DKA. Of the 43 newly diagnosed type I DM children with DKA, 26 (60.5%) were females and 17(39.5%) were males giving a female to male ratio of 1.5:1. The mean age was 9.44, range (2 to 14).From 43 newly diagnosed type I DM with DKA children, 4(9.3%) of them have first degree relatives with DM and 39(90.7%) of the children do not have first degree relatives with DM. 86% of the children has sign and symptoms of DM before presenting with DKA. Conclusion: The overall magnitude of DKA in children with newly diagnosed type 1 diabetes is high. The increased number of newly diagnosed patients presenting with DKA in our experience indicates that focus should be given upon earlier diagnosis and intervention of diabetes to reduce the occurrence of DKA.