Assessment of Safety and Glycemic Control During Football Tournament in Children and Adolescents With Type 1 Diabetes—Results of GoalDiab Study

Abstract

Purpose: To assess glycemic control and safety of children and adolescents with type 1 diabetes participating in a 2-day football tournament. Methods: In total, 189 children with type 1 diabetes from 11 diabetes care centers, in Poland, participated in a football tournament in 3 age categories: 7–9 (21.2%), 10–13 (42.9%), and 14–17 (36%) years. Participants were qualified and organized in 23 football teams, played 4 to 6 matches of 30 minutes, and were supervised by a medical team. Data on insulin dose and glycemia were downloaded from personal pumps, glucose meters, continuous glucose monitoring, and flash glucose monitoring systems. Results: The median level of blood glucose before the matches was 6.78 (4.89–9.39) mmol/L, and after the matches, it was 7.39 (5.5–9.87) mmol/L (P = .001). There were no episodes of severe hypoglycemia or ketoacidosis. The number of episodes of low glucose value (blood glucose ≤3.9 mmol/L) was higher during the tournament versus 30 days before: 1.2 (0–1.5) versus 0.7 (0.3–1.1) event/person/day, P < .001. Lactate levels increased during the matches (2.2 [1.6–4.0] mmol/L to 4.4 [2.6–8.5] mmol/L after the matches, P < .001). Conclusions: Large football tournaments can be organized safely for children with type 1 diabetes. For the majority of children, moderate mixed aerobic–anaerobic effort did not adversely affect glycemic results and metabolic safety.

Above 40% of Polish children and young adults with type 1 diabetes achieve international HbA1c target ‐ results of a nationwide cross‐sectional evaluation of glycemic control: The PolPeDiab HbA1c study

“…The share of adults in the general population was more limited due to care dissemination; however, it can be viewed as representative for leading T1D‐dedicated centers. Our results were also in line with other single‐ or multi‐center studies carried out independently in the same period of time 10,11,40 . Moreover, we provided an insight into the benefits related to the use of new technologies in a real‐life, which may serve as high‐quality evidence for national healthcare providers when considering reimbursement.…”

“…Single-center and small-scale multicenter studies provided results suggesting that HbA1c in some groups may be lower than in some other countries, however, their results could not be generalized. [8][9][10][11] This created a need for a nationwide study to evaluate diabetes control in children and young adults with T1D. The PolPeDiab HbA1c…”

Nighttime Hypoglycemia in Children with Type 1 Diabetes after one Day of Football Tournament

“…During the night, children were supervised by their parents, a diabetologist or a nurse from the medical team. The treatment decisions were made by the children themselves and/or parents and/ or the medical team, according to the protocol previously presented to the participants (Appendix) [19,21]. Children were requested to sleep at approximately 10:00 P.M. and to wake up at 7:00 A.M.…”

“…However, there is limited data regarding the relationship between glycemia during physical activity and nighttime glycemia in the context of a real-life large sports tournament. In 2017, Diabetes Poland organized the First Polish Football Championship for Children and Adolescents with Diabetes, during which the GoalDiab Study was conducted [19]. In addition to promoting physical activity among young patients, we aimed to investigate the safety of a mass sports event for children with T1DM.…”

Characteristics of Selected Somatic and Motor Abilities of Youth Soccer Players with Diabetes Type 1 Treated with Insulin Pump Therapy

“…People with T1D can now practice all types of sports, including those requiring maximum physical performance and extreme sports [9]. Teenagers with diabetes can now find information on how to prepare for participation in different forms of physical activity and sports, both amateur and professional [9][10][11][12][13].…”