Epidemiology of type 1 diabetes mellitus in children in Kazakhstan: Data from unified national electronic health system 2014-2021

The epidemiology of type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) in children aged 0-17 in Kazakhstan was explored using aggregated large-scale healthcare data from the unified national electronic health system (UNEHS) in 2014-2021. Incidence, period prevalence, and mortality rates per 100,000 population at risk were calculated. Cox proportional hazards regression modelling and Kaplan-Meier methodology were used. The follow-up period was from the initial date of T1DM until death or the end of the follow-up (31 December 2021). Among the 11,088 patients, the incidence rate of T1DM decreased from 28.1 to 24.5 per 100,000 population, whereas the period prevalence rate increased from 48.8 to 179.1, and the mortality rate rose from 0.18 to 0.67. Diagnosis at age 0-1 years (hazards ratio [HR] 4.42), presence of nephropathy (HR 8.94) or neoplasms (HR 1.64) were associated with a higher risk of death, while the presence of retinopathy (HR 0.31) was associated with a lower risk of death.