Survival of children and youth with type 1 diabetes mellitus in Tanzania

Introduction: Survival from type 1 diabetes Mellitus is low in lower-income countries with underdeveloped health systems. Support programs from partners like life for a child (LFAC) and changing diabetes in children (CDiC) were implemented in Tanzania in 2005 to provide diabetes care to children and youth. No evaluation of survival has been done since their implementation. Objective: To assess the survival of children and youth living with diabetes mellitus (CYLDM) in Tanzania. Methods: A retrospective data collection from 39 clinics of CYLDM was done by extracting data from the diabetes registry between 1991 and 2019. Three cohort were analyzed (1) Cohort 1991–2004 (pre-implementation), (2) Cohort 2005–2010 (during implementation), and (3) 2011–2019 (after the implementation of LFAC/CDiC). Data were analyzed using STATA-version 14. Results: A total of 3822 data of CYLDM were extracted, mean age at diagnosis was 13.8 (±5) years. Approximately fifty-one percent (50.8%) were male. The total observation time was 28 years, and the Median duration of diabetes of 5 (IQR2, 8) years. Total death was 95 (3%), with a mean age at death of 17.7 (SD 4.7) years. The last cohort (2011–2019) had more diagnosis 2353 (72.7%), as compared to the <2005 cohort with only 163(5%). The survival improved from 59% before 2005 to 69% in the last cohort (2011–2019). Conclusion: The implemented programs have facilitated the diagnosis and retention of CYLDM in the health care system. In doing so, it has also increased the survival probability in Tanzania compared to the early 90s.