The impact of type 1 diabetes mellitus in childhood on academic performance: A matched population‐based cohort study

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: The impact of type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1D) on academic performance is inconclusive. This study aims to compare scholastic performance and high‐school completion in young people hospitalized with T1D compared to matched peers not hospitalized with diabetes. RESEARCH DESIGN: Retrospective case‐comparison cohort study. METHOD: A population‐level matched case‐comparison study of people aged ≤18 hospitalized with T1D during 2005–2018 in New South Wales, Australia using linked health‐related and education records. The comparison cohort was matched on age, gender, and residential postcode. Generalized linear mixed modeling examined risk of school performance below the national minimum standard (NMS) and generalized linear regression examined risk of not completing high school for young people hospitalized with T1D compared to peers. Adjusted relative risks (ARR) were calculated. RESULTS: Young females and males hospitalized with T1D did not have a higher risk of not achieving the NMS compared to peers for numeracy (ARR: 1.19; 95%CI 0.77–1.84 and ARR: 0.74; 95%CI 0.46–1.19) or reading (ARR: 0.98; 95%CI 0.63–1.50 and ARR: 0.85; 95%CI 0.58–1.24), respectively. Young T1D hospitalized females had a higher risk of not completing year 11 (ARR: 1.73; 95%CI 1.19–2.53) or 12 (ARR: 1.65; 95%CI 1.17–2.33) compared to peers, while hospitalized T1D males did not. CONCLUSIONS: There was no difference in academic performance in youth hospitalized with T1D compared to peers. Improved glucose control and T1D management may explain the absence of school performance decrements in students with T1D. However, females hospitalized with T1D had a higher risk of not completing high school. Potential associations of this increased risk, with attention to T1D and psycho‐social management, should be investigated.