Nationwide digital/virtual diabetes care of children, adolescents and young adults with type 1 diabetes during a lockdown due to COVID-19 pandemic in Slovenia

Objectives: During coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic the Government of the Republic of Slovenia inflicted a series of restrictive measures to contain and manage the possible spread, including outpatient clinics closure and a cessation of all non-urgent healthcare visits To sustain uninterrupted diabetes care, all scheduled appointments for individuals with type 1 diabetes were transitioned to video digital/virtual visits Methods: In this prospective observational study, we compared glycemic control of children, adolescents and young adults with type 1 diabetes from the Slovenian National Childhood Type 1 Diabetes Registry during the pre-lockdown and lockdown periods We have approached all individuals with type 1 diabetes, who had a scheduled visit during a national lockdown period between 15th of March and 20th of May 2020 Results: 313 out of 326 families contacted (96%) attended a video digital/virtual visit Glycemic control was not impaired during the lockdown period in individuals with type 1 diabetes Mean glucose was 9 2 mmoL/L (IQR 8 3-10 2) during the lockdown, compared to 9 5 mmoL/L (IQR 8 2-11), p = 0 040 during the pre-lockdown period There were no severe hypoglycemic events, DKA, SARS-CoV-2 infections or any other severe adverse events requiring hospitalization during the lockdown among individuals included in our registry Conclusions: We demonstrated that a digital/virtual visit is a feasible alternative in specific clinical circumstances, like COVID -19 pandemic and could complement face-to-face visits in the future There was no worsening of glycemic control in individuals with type 1 diabetes during the lockdown period