PT - JOURNAL ARTICLE AU - Eppens, Maike C. AU - Craig, Maria E. AU - Cusumano, Janine AU - Hing, Stephen AU - Chan, Albert K.F. AU - Howard, Neville J. AU - Silink, Martin AU - Donaghue, Kim C. TI - Prevalence of Diabetes Complications in Adolescents With Type 2 Compared With Type 1 Diabetes AID - 10.2337/dc05-2470 DP - 2006 Jun 01 TA - Diabetes Care PG - 1300--1306 VI - 29 IP - 6 4099 - http://care.diabetesjournals.org/content/29/6/1300.short 4100 - http://care.diabetesjournals.org/content/29/6/1300.full SO - Diabetes Care2006 Jun 01; 29 AB - OBJECTIVE—To compare the prevalence of diabetes complications and their risk factors in youth with type 1 versus type 2 diabetes. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS—We performed a comparative clinic-based study of 1,433 patients with type 1 diabetes and 68 patients with type 2 diabetes aged <18 years from New South Wales, Australia. Retinopathy was assessed by seven-field stereoscopic retinal photography; albumin excretion rate from three consecutive, timed, overnight urine collections; peripheral neuropathy by thermal and vibration threshold; and autonomic neuropathy by pupillometry. HbA1c (A1C) and lipids were measured in all patients and C-peptide in patients with type 2 diabetes. RESULTS—In patients with type 1 versus type 2 diabetes, median (interquartile range) age was 15.7 years (13.9–17.0) and 15.3 years (13.6–16.4), respectively (P = 0.2), whereas median diabetes duration was 6.8 years (4.7–9.6) and 1.3 years (0.6–3.1), respectively (P < 0.0001). Retinopathy was significantly more common in patients with type 1 diabetes (20 vs. 4%, P = 0.04), while microalbuminuria and hypertension were significantly less common (6 and 16% in type 1 diabetes vs. 28 and 36% in type 2 diabetes). Rates of peripheral and autonomic neuropathy were similar (27 and 61% in type 1 diabetes vs. 21 and 57% in type 2 diabetes). In multivariate analyses, microalbuminuria was significantly associated with older age (odds ratio 1.3 [95% CI 1.2–1.5], P < 0.001) and systolic hypertension (3.63 [2.0–6.3], P < 0.001) in type 1 diabetes, while only higher A1C (1.7 [1.3–2.9], P = 0.002) was significant in patients with type 2 diabetes. CONCLUSIONS—Youth with type 2 diabetes have significantly higher rates of microalbuminuria and hypertension than their peers with type 1 diabetes, despite shorter diabetes duration and lower A1C. The results of this study support recommendations for early complications screening and aggressive targeting of glycemic control in patients with type 2 diabetes.