Socio-demographic and clinical characteristics of type 1 diabetes patients associated with emergency room visits and hospitalizations in Mexico

BACKGROUND: To describe the demographic and clinical characteristics of Type 1 diabetes (T1D) patients affiliated with the Mexican Institute of Social Security (IMSS) and ascertain the socio-demographic and clinical risk factors associated with emergency room (ER) visits and diabetes-related hospitalizations. METHODS: We conducted secondary data analysis of a cross-sectional study. The study included T1D patients 18 years of age and older who in 2016 attended follow-up visits at the endocrinology department of two IMSS tertiary care hospitals in Mexico City. The study variables included demographics, acute and chronic complications, and healthcare services utilization. Multiple Poisson and negative binomial regressions served to determine the association between the study covariates and the dependent variables: ER visits and diabetes-related hospitalizations. RESULTS: The study included 192 patients, of which 29.2% were men; average age was 32.3 years, with only 13.6% controlled (glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1C) < 7%); the mean HbA1C was 9.2, and 64.6% presented chronic complications. During 2016, 39.0% visited ER services, and 33.9% were hospitalized. The common risk factors for ER visits and hospitalization were older age at the beginning of diabetes, severe acute complications, chronic microvascular and macrovascular complications, and other comorbidities. Female sex, high school education, depression, and repeated visits to the endocrinologist were associated with ER visits, whereas active smoking and the interaction between diabetes duration > 10 years and HbA1c > 9.0% were additional risk factors for hospitalization. CONCLUSION: The poor clinical conditions of T1D patients contribute to explain the escalating demand for health services for diabetes patients at the IMSS. The identification of risk factors enables focalizing interventions to improve the health outcomes of T1D patients and reduce the proportion of ER visits and hospital admissions.