145-LB: Consistent Care of Teens and Young Adults with Diabetes during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

The transition period from pediatric to adult care is associated with worsening glycemic control and poor attendance with adult providers, which has only been complicated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Diabetes transition clinics and model programs may improve outcomes, but they remain few in number and underutilized. The aim of our cross-sectional, retrospective study was to compare diabetes control in our diabetes transition clinic (DTC) patients versus those who remained in pediatric endocrine care (non-DTC) over a 5 year period. A random sample of 82 patients ages 16 to 25 years seen in clinic from 9/11/2017 to 9/10/2022 were included. Each patient had at least one visit before and after 3/11/2020, when COVID-19 was declared a global pandemic. Those who attended DTC were similar to the non-DTC group except for insurance status (Table). The DTC group had a mean HbA1c of 8.8% vs. 9.0% (p=0.80) and a mean of 4.1 vs. 3.8 visits (p=0.69); whereas, the non-DTC group had a mean HbA1c of 10% vs. 9.6% (p=0.27) and a mean of 5.2 vs. 4.2 visits (p=0.19) before versus after 3/11/2020. Telehealth visits consisted of 15.7% of the visits in the DTC group versus 13.3% in the non-DTC group after 3/11/2020 (p=0.56). Despite the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, patients who moved to DTC during this time maintained glycemic control and continued to attend clinic visits consistently similar to those who remained in pediatric endocrine care. Disclosure D. S. Hsia: None. R. A. Beyl: None. R. Rumsey: None. Funding National Institute of General Medical Sciences (U54GM104940)