Prevalence of Type1 Diabetes among School Children and Adolescents in Sana’a City, Yemen

Background: Childhood diabetes was rare and rapidly fatal at the start of the 20th century but the incidence began to increase steadily by the end of the century. This study aimed at screening for diabetes among school children and adolescents in Sana'a city, Yemen. Methods: Of a total student population of 26410 from four educational district registers in Sana'a city, 2870 students were screened for diabetes by urine glucose testing. Diagnosis of diabetes was first suspected from urine testing, then confirmed by blood glucose testing. Results: Glucosuria was detected in the urine samples of 10 out of 2870 students, giving an overall crude prevalence of 0.35% among school children and adolescents investigated. Diagnosis of type 1 diabetes was confirmed for all students with glucosuria by testing plasma glucose and Cpeptide levels of the index patients and a control group. As compared to control group, students with diabetes had significantly higher mean fasting and 2hpostprandial plasma glucose levels (P< 0.0001) but significantly lower mean fasting serum Cpeptide value (P< 0.0001). The agestandardized prevalence rate for age range 519 years (Census 1994 populationadjusted rate) is 0.36% (95% CI: 0.20.5%). Conclusion: : Pediatric-onset Type 1 diabetes is relatively prevalent among school children and adolescents in Yemen, with a slightly higher frequency in those aged ≥ 15 years, but no significant sexdifference.