PLATEDIAN (Telemedicine on Metabolic Control in Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus Andalusian Patients) (NCT03332472) was a multicenter, randomized, 6-month follow-up, open-label, parallel-group controlled study performed in patients with type 1 diabetes with suboptimal metabolic control (HbA_1c <8% [<64 mmol/mol]), treated with multiple daily injections. A total of 388 patients were assessed for eligibility; 379 of them were randomized 1:1 to three face-to-face visits (control cohort [CC]) (n = 167) or the replacement of an intermediate face-to-face visit by a telemedicine visit using Diabetic (intervention cohort [IC]) (n = 163). The primary efficacy end point was the mean change of HbA_1c levels from baseline to month 6. Other efficacy and safety end points were mean blood glucose, glucose variability, episodes of hypoglycemia and hyperglycemia, patient-reported outcomes, and physicians’ satisfaction.

At month 6, the mean change in HbA_1c levels was –0.04 ± 0.5% (–0.5 ± 5.8 mmol/mol) in the CC and 0.01 ± 0.6% (0.1 ± 6.0 mmol/mol) in the IC (P = 0.4941). The number of patients who achieved HbA_1c <7% (<53 mmol/mol) was 73 and 78 in the CC and IC, respectively. Significant differences were not found regarding safety end points at 6 months. Changes in HRQoL between the first visit and final visit did not differ between cohorts, and, regarding fear of hypoglycemia (FH-15 score ≥28), statistically significant differences observed at baseline remained unchanged at 6 months (P < 0.05).

The use of telemedicine in patients with type 1 diabetes with HbA_1c <8% (<64 mmol/mol) provides similar efficacy and safety outcomes as face-to-face visits.

Outcomes of 736 patients with T2DM who underwent Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGB) or sleeve gastrectomy (SG) at an academic center (2004–2012) and had ≥5 years’ glycemic follow-up were assessed. Of 736 patients, 425 (58%) experienced diabetes remission (HbA_1c <6.5% [48 mmol/mol] with patients off medications) in the 1st year after surgery. These 425 patients were followed for a median of 8 years (range 5–14) to characterize late relapse of diabetes.

In 136 (32%) patients who experienced late relapse, a statistically significant improvement in glycemic control, number of diabetes medications including insulin use, blood pressure, and lipid profile was still observed at long-term. Independent baseline predictors of late relapse were preoperative number of diabetes medications, duration of T2DM before surgery, and SG versus RYGB. Furthermore, patients who relapsed lost less weight during the 1st year after surgery and regained more weight afterward. Prediction models were constructed and externally validated.

While late relapse of T2DM is a real phenomenon (one-third of our cohort), it should not be considered a failure, as the trajectory of the disease and its related cardiometabolic risk factors is changed favorably after bariatric surgery. Earlier surgical intervention, RYGB (compared with SG) and more weight loss (less late weight regain) are associated with less diabetes relapse in the long-term.

We assessed the intellectual functioning and mental health of the complete Norwegian population with K_ATP channel neonatal diabetes. Eight sulfonylurea-treated children (five with the p.V59M genotype [KCNJ11]) were assessed using age-matched control subjects with type 1 diabetes. The investigations included a physical and motor developmental examination, cerebral MRI, psychometrical examination, and questionnaires assessing intellectual capabilities and psychiatric morbidity.

A strong genotype-phenotype correlation was found, revealing the p.V59M genotype as highly associated with substantial intellectual disability, with no significant correlation with the time of sulfonylurea initiation. Consistent with previous studies, other genotypes were associated with minor cognitive impairment. Cerebral MRI verified normal brain anatomy in all but one child.

We here presented a comprehensive assessment of intellectual functioning in the largest cohort of p.V59M subjects to date. The level of intellectual disability revealed not only changes the interpretation of other psychological measures but downplays a strong protective effect of sulfonylurea. Within the scope of this study, we could not find evidence supporting an early treatment start to be beneficial, although a weaker effect cannot be ruled out.

Medical resource use data and responses to the EuroQol 5-Dimension (EQ-5D) instrument were collected at baseline and throughout the trial. Medical resources and medications were assigned values by using U.S. Medicare payments and wholesale acquisition costs, respectively. Secondary analyses used English costs.

Patients were followed for an average of 3.3 years, during which time those randomized to EQW experienced 0.41 fewer inpatient days (7.05 vs. 7.46 days; relative rate ratio 0.91; P = 0.05). Rates of outpatient medical visits were similar, as were total inpatient and outpatient costs. Mean costs for nonstudy diabetes medications over the study period were ~$1,600 lower with EQW than with placebo (P = 0.01). Total within-study costs, excluding study medication, were lower in the EQW arm than in the placebo arm ($28,907 vs. $30,914; P ≤ 0.01). When including the estimated cost of EQW, total mean costs were significantly higher in the EQW group than in the placebo group ($42,697 vs. $30,914; P < 0.01). With English costs applied, mean total costs, including exenatide costs, were £1,670 higher in the EQW group than the placebo group (£10,874 vs. £9,204; P < 0.01). There were no significant differences in EQ-5D health utilities between arms over time.

Medical costs were lower in the EQW arm than the placebo arm, but total costs were significantly higher once the cost of branded exenatide was incorporated.

We studied 706 single autoantibody–positive pediatric TrialNet participants (ages 1.6–18.6 years at baseline). Cumulative excess BMI (ceBMI) was calculated for each participant based on longitudinally accumulated BMI ≥85th age- and sex-adjusted percentile. Recursive partitioning analysis and multivariable modeling defined the age cut point differentiating the risk for progression to multiple positive autoantibodies.

At baseline, 175 children (25%) had a BMI ≥85th percentile. ceBMI range was –9.2 to 15.6 kg/m² (median –1.91), with ceBMI ≥0 kg/m² corresponding to persistently elevated BMI ≥85th percentile. Younger age increased the progression to multiple autoantibodies, with age cutoff of 9 years defined by recursive partitioning analysis. Although ceBMI was not significantly associated with progression from single to multiple autoantibodies overall, there was an interaction with ceBMI ≥0 kg/m², age, and HLA (P = 0.009). Among children ≥9 years old without HLA DR3-DQ2 and DR4-DQ8, ceBMI ≥0 kg/m² increased the rate of progression from single to multiple positive autoantibodies (hazard ratio 7.32, P = 0.004) and conferred a risk similar to that in those with T1D-associated HLA haplotypes. In participants <9 years old, the effect of ceBMI on progression to multiple autoantibodies was not significant regardless of HLA type.

These data support that elevated BMI may exacerbate islet autoimmunity prior to clinical T1D, particularly in children with lower risk based on age and HLA. Interventions to maintain normal BMI may prevent or delay the progression of islet autoimmunity.

A cost-effectiveness analysis was conducted to estimate lifetime costs and health gains using a stochastic microsimulation model of oral health conditions, T2D, T2D-related microvascular diseases, and CVD of the U.S. population. Model parameters were obtained from the nationally representative National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) (2009–2014) and randomized trials of periodontal treatment among patients with T2D.

Expanding periodontal treatment coverage among patients with T2D and periodontitis would be expected to avert tooth loss by 34.1% (95% CI –39.9, –26.5) and microvascular diseases by 20.5% (95% CI –31.2, –9.1), 17.7% (95% CI –32.7, –4.7), and 18.4% (95% CI –34.5, –3.5) for nephropathy, neuropathy, and retinopathy, respectively. Providing periodontal treatment to the target population would be cost saving from a health care perspective at a total net savings of $5,904 (95% CI –6,039, –5,769) with an estimated gain of 0.6 quality-adjusted life years per capita (95% CI 0.5, 0.6).

Providing nonsurgical periodontal treatment to patients with T2D and periodontitis would be expected to significantly reduce tooth loss and T2D-related microvascular diseases via improved glycemic control. Encouraging patients with T2D and poor oral health conditions to receive periodontal treatment would improve health outcomes and still be cost saving or cost-effective.

We monitored 4,372 women with a history of GDM participating in the Nurses’ Health Study II for incident type 2 diabetes over 25 years up to 2017. Lactation history was obtained through follow-up questionnaires to calculate lactation duration. Follow-up blood samples were collected from a subset of these women at median age of 58 years through the Diabetes & Women’s Health Study.

We documented 873 incident cases of type 2 diabetes during 87,411 person-years of follow-up. Longer duration of lactation was associated with lower risk of type 2 diabetes for both total lactation (hazard ratio 1.05 [95% CI 0.83–1.34] for up to 6 months, 0.91 [0.72–1.16] for 6–12 months, 0.85 [0.67–1.06] for 12–24 months, and 0.73 [0.57–0.93] for >24 months, compared with 0 months; P-trend = 0.003) and exclusive breastfeeding (P-trend = 0.002) after adjustment for age, ethnicity, family history of diabetes, parity, age at first birth, smoking, diet quality, physical activity, and prepregnancy BMI. Longer duration of lactation was also associated with lower HbA_1c, fasting plasma insulin, and C-peptide concentrations among women without type 2 diabetes at follow-up (all adjusted P-trend ≤0.04).

Longer duration of lactation is associated with a lower risk of type 2 diabetes and a favorable glucose metabolic biomarker profile among women with a history of GDM. The underlying mechanisms and impact on diabetes complications, morbidity, and mortality remain to be determined.

We pooled individual-level data from 29 nationally representative surveys conducted between 2008 and 2016, totaling 588,574 participants aged ≥25 years. Diabetes prevalence and the subset with undiagnosed diabetes was calculated overall and by country, World Bank income group (WBIG), and geographic region. Multivariable Poisson regression models were used to estimate relative risk (RR).

Overall, prevalence of diabetes in 29 LMICs was 7.5% (95% CI 7.1–8.0) and of undiagnosed diabetes 4.9% (4.6–5.3). Diabetes prevalence increased with increasing WBIG: countries with low-income economies (LICs) 6.7% (5.5–8.1), lower-middle-income economies (LMIs) 7.1% (6.6–7.6), and upper-middle-income economies (UMIs) 8.2% (7.5–9.0). Compared with no formal education, greater educational attainment was associated with an increased risk of diabetes across WBIGs, after adjusting for BMI (LICs RR 1.47 [95% CI 1.22–1.78], LMIs 1.14 [1.06–1.23], and UMIs 1.28 [1.02–1.61]).

Among 29 LMICs, diabetes prevalence was substantial and increased with increasing WBIG. In contrast to the association seen in high-income countries, diabetes risk was highest among those with greater educational attainment, independent of BMI. LMICs included in this analysis may be at an advanced stage in the nutrition transition but with no reversal in the socioeconomic gradient of diabetes risk.

Data from 2,662 individuals with self-reported diabetes who participated in the Health and Retirement Study (HRS) were used. Participants were followed from 2006 through 2014. Financial hardship, psychosocial, and neighborhood-level social determinant factors were based on validated surveys from the biennial core interview and RAND data sets. All social determinant factors and measurements of HbA_1c from the time period were used and treated as time varying in analyses. SAS PROC GLIMMIX was used to fit a series of hierarchical linear mixed models. Models controlled for nonindependence among the repeated observations using a random intercept and treating each individual participant as a random factor. Survey methods were used to apply HRS weighting.

Before adjustment for demographics, difficulty paying bills (β = 0.18 [95% CI 0.02, 0.24]) and medication cost nonadherence (0.15 [0.01, 0.29]) were independently associated with increasing HbA_1c over time, and social cohesion (–0.05 [–0.10, –0.001]) was independently associated with decreasing HbA_1c over time. After adjusting for both demographics and comorbidity count, difficulty paying bills (0.13 [0.03, 0.24]) and religiosity (0.04 [0.001, 0.08]) were independently associated with increasing HbA_1c over time.

Using a longitudinal cohort of older adults with diabetes, this study found that financial hardship factors, such as difficulty paying bills, were more consistently associated with worsening glycemic control over time than psychosocial and neighborhood factors.

We measured inpatient (n = 816) health care utilization for Bronx A1C participants using an administrative data set containing all hospital discharges for New York State from 2006 to 2014. Multilevel mixed modeling was used to assess changes in health care utilization and costs between the telephonic diabetes intervention (Tele/Pr) arm and print-only (PrO) control arm.

During follow-up, excess relative reductions in all-cause hospitalizations for the Tele/Pr arm compared with PrO arm were statistically significant for odds of hospital use (odds ratio [OR] 0.89; 95% CI 0.82, 0.97; P < 0.01), number of hospital stays (rate ratio [RR] 0.90; 95% CI 0.81, 0.99; P = 0.04), and hospital costs (RR 0.90; 95% CI 0.84, 0.98; P = 0.01). Reductions in hospital use and costs were even stronger for diabetes-related hospitalizations. These outcomes were not significantly related to changes observed in hemoglobin A_1c during individuals’ participation in the 1-year intervention.

These results indicate that the impact of the Bronx A1C intervention was not just on short-term improvements in glycemic control but also on long-term health care utilization. This finding is important because it suggests the benefits of the intervention were long-lasting with the potential to not only reduce hospitalizations but also to lower hospital-associated costs.