Grant: Fellowship - PA: Clinical Research

Diabetes is a serious and growing public health problem in Canada. Complications of diabetes are common, costly, and associated with significant risk for premature death or disability. The acute complications of type 1 diabetes (previously known as "Juvenile Diabetes") can occur when blood sugar is extremely high or low. Such complications are called diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA, severely elevated blood sugar) and hypoglycemia (extremely low blood sugar) and are both potentially fatal. There is some information available that describes the characteristics of children with type 1 diabetes who are at high risk for such complications, however little is known about the characteristics of adults with type 1 diabetes that present with these complications. Being able to identify adult patients at risk is extremely important so that health care providers can intervene to prevent these serious complications. Our study will identify adult patients with type 1 diabetes that have been admitted to hospitals in a large urban centre and compare their characteristics to other patients with type 1 diabetes that have not had these complications. This information will inform clinicians, health care professionals, and medical researchers of individuals at high risk for acute complications and could lead to interventions that would prevent these complications and improve health outcomes.