Type 1 diabetes mellitus and Ramadan fasting: A case of adolescents and adults from Algeria

Objectives

Experts suggest that people with type 1 diabetes (T1DM) should be discouraged from fasting during Ramadan, even though both adolescents and adults insist on performing their fast despite the jurisprudential excuse. The objective was to evaluate the behavior and attitudes of a population with T1DM during Ramadan and outside.

Materials and methods

A descriptive study was carried out on 63 T1DM subjects at the level of two health establishments located in the city of Constantine (eastern Algeria). The interviews took place between April 13th and May 12th, 2021 during Ramadan. The R.3.2.4 software was used for the comparison tests. The significance level retained was 0.05.

Results

The study involved 63 subjects with T1DM (30 females and 33 males) of whom 26 subjects aged < 18 years and 37 subjects aged ≥ 18 years (P = 0.001). The mean age was 21.2 ± 5.7 years (12–42 years). The average duration of pathology since diagnosis was 6.6 ± 4.5 years. Glycated hemoglobin (Hb1Ac) was between 5.60% and 16.10% with an average of 8.1 ± 0.2%. The results revealed that 28.6% of the patients practiced Ramadan fasting with an average of 13.8 ± 10.4 days. Only 31.7% consulted their doctors before observing Ramadan, 77.8% controlled their blood sugar mainly before breaking the fast. COVID-19 affected 15.9% of subjects and hyperglycemia was the most recorded diabetes-related complication.

Conclusion

Despite the health risks, subjects with T1DM insisted on fasting during the month of Ramadan. Thence it is vital to adhere to a healthy lifestyle with early clinical monitoring.