HbA1, height velocity and weight gain as indicators of metabolic control in type I diabetic children. A 5 year survey.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the metabolic control of the type I diabetic patients seen from 1984 to 1988. We analyzed the results of HbA1, height velocity and weight gain. Results showed that from 1984 1985 a 90% of diabetics were in poor metabolic control with HbA1 > 11% (good control < 11%). For 1988 the percentage of poor controlled patients descended to 78%. On the other hand, these patients observed a significant decrease in height velocity and weight gain compared with diabetics with HbA1 < 11% (p < 0.005 and p < 0.001). In addition, diabetics in poor metabolic control were under 10 and 3 number percentiles of the weight and growth diagrams. Finally, we found a significant correlation between HbA1 and height velocity as well as HbA1 and weight gain (r = -0.77 and r = -0.79; p < 0.001 for both). Our results showed that a great percent of our patients were in poor metabolic control with a decreased height velocity and weight gain.