Epidemiological assessment of diabetes mellitus in children of Ukraine during the last 20 years (2002-2021) of peacetime.

Objectives: Nowadays, there is a global trend towards an increase in the prevalence and incidence of diabetes mellitus, including among children, which is a significant health problem in many countries. The analysis of data on diabetes among children is important for training medical personnel and planning preventive measures. The aim is to determine the trends in the prevalence and incidence of diabetes mellitus, as well as the gender and age structure among the paediatric population of different regions of Ukraine over the last 20 years (2002-2021) of peacetime.

Methods: The results of statistical evaluation and epidemiological analysis of the data of the Centre for Medical Statistics of the Ministry of Health of Ukraine on the prevalence and incidence of diabetes mellitus among children during 2002-2021 are presented. Statistical processing of the results was carried out using MS Excel (Microsoft Corporation, USA), XLSTAT-Pro (Addinsoft, USA).

Results: According to the Ministry of Health of Ukraine, as of 2021, 11,193 children aged 0-17 years inclusive with diabetes mellitus were registered, which is 15.0 cases per 10 thousand of the relevant population. Compared to 2002, the prevalence and incidence rates increased by 93% and 80%, respectively; the fastest rates were among children aged 0-6 years, and the lowest among adolescents aged 15-17 years. In 2021, the highest incidence of diabetes among infants over the past 15 years was recorded (0.05 per 1000 of the relevant population).

Conclusions: In Ukraine, over the past 20 years (2002-2021) of peacetime, there has been an annual gradual increase in the prevalence and incidence of diabetes mellitus among children in all age groups with gender balance, which generally corresponds to the global trend.