Study of presentation of new cases of childhood diabetes mellitus during the COVID pandemic at a tertiary University UK hospital

Introduction & objectives: The COVID pandemic has stimulated profound change in health care with societal restraint to control the spread of the virus through reduced human contact balanced with encouragement to seek appropriate advice in case of medical emergency Delayed diagnosis of Type 1 diabetes can lead to Diabetic Ketoacidosis (DKA) with significant morbidity and mortality We obtained base line referral and disease grading data for new presentations of diabetes for the first half of 2019 and 2020 to compare changes in referral pathways if any Methods: Information regarding demographics, COVID-19 selfisolation status, and time to diagnosis were extracted from medical notes Descriptive analyses, t test, ANOVA, χ2 test, Mann-Whitney U or Kruskal-Wallis tests were used to describe patterns of service utilization, and compare the differences of key measures Result: 26 new cases of T1DM in the first half of 2019 versus 27 cases in 2020 ∗ Total diagnostic interval: time from symptom onset to diagnosis Patient interval: interval between symptom onset to first presentation to healthcare System interval: interval between first presentation to health care and diagnosis Route to diagnosis was through primary care in the majority of cases In the last quarter (covering the period of lockdown), 2/16 of families were shielding and 4/16 parents reported that they would have sought advice sooner in normal times on direct questioning Conclusion: While the COVID pandemic has created a unique situation with ED and GP attendances reduced by over half across the UK, locally at our Children's hospital, this has not led to delays in seeking treatment or an increased incidence of DKA in children presenting with newly diagnosed diabetes