Sex differences exist in outcomes among adults with T1D, which typically start in childhood. E.g., females with T1D have an higher risk of all-cause mortality than males with T1D. Not much is known yet about the influence of sex on T1D care and outcomes in childhood. This review, co-authored by Dick Mul and Theo Sas of Diabeter, aimed to provide a literature overview of paediatric sex differences, looking at person and disease characteristics, treatment, comorbidities and complications.

MEDLINE was searched with the terms diabetes mellitus, sex characteristics, sex distribution, children and/or adolescents, resulting in 8,640 eligible articles of which 90 were included for review (n=643,217 individuals).

Key findings:

• Higher HbA1c in young female children, at diagnosis and during treatment
• HbA1c increases faster in young female children
• Higher BMI, prevalence of being overweight/obese and of dyslipidaemia among female children
• More frequent hypoglycemia and partial remission among male children 
• Female children are on pump therapy more frequently and need higher insulin doses 
• Female children show lower quality of life 

Concluding, the authors state

Please click here for the full-text.