Coma at the onset of young insulin-dependent diabetes in Japan. The results of a nationwide survey. Japan and Pittsburgh Childhood Diabetes Research Groups.

The descriptive epidemiology of diabetic coma at onset was investigated in a nationwide survey of insulin-dependent diabetic (IDDM) children (age at onset less than 18 yr) throughout Japan for the years 1970-81. Of the 1172 cases, 148 (12.6%) were unconscious at onset. Diabetic coma was highly associated with abnormalities in the biochemical variables. There was no sex difference in the frequency of coma; however, there was an inverse association with age wherein children under 5 yr of age were approximately two times more likely to present in coma than older children. There was a strong association with reported infections wherein patients with coma were more than twice as likely to report infection than patients without coma. It seemed that the frequency of coma did not decline during the study period. The risk of dying at onset was very high; diabetic children in coma (4.7%) were 12 times more likely to die than patients without coma.