NEW guidelines for the screening, assessment and management of paediatric type 2 diabetes, which address the specifics for high-risk ethnic groups including Indigenous Australians, have been released to help physicians from Australia and New Zealand.
The guidelines, published today by the Medical Journal of Australia, were approved by the Australasian Paediatric Endocrine Group, and contain a dedicated section on consideration of care for children and adolescents from Indigenous background in Australia and New Zealand.
“Published international guidelines currently exist, but the challenges and specifics to care for children and adolescents with type 2 diabetes which should apply to Australasia have not been addressed to date,” wrote the guideline authors, led by Dr Alexia Peña, Senior Lecturer at the University of Adelaide’s Robinson Research Institute, and a paediatric endocrinologist at the Women’s and Children’s Hospital in Adelaide.
Changes to management recommended by the new guidelines include:
- recommendations regarding care of children and adolescents from Indigenous backgrounds in Australia and New Zealand including screening and management;
- tighter diabetes targets (glycated haemoglobin, < 48 mmol/mol [< 6.5%]) for all children and adolescents;
- considering the use of newer medications approved for adults with type 2 diabetes under the guidance of a paediatric endocrinologist; and
- the need to transition adolescents with type 2 diabetes to a diabetes multidisciplinary care team including an adult endocrinologist for their ongoing care.
Peña and colleagues said: “These first Australasian guidelines for children and adolescents with type 2 diabetes provide guidance to health care providers in relation to screening, diagnosis, diabetes education, monitoring including targets, healthy lifestyle, pharmacotherapy, assessment and management of complications and comorbidities, and transition.”
All MJA media releases are open access and can be found at: https://www.mja.com.au/journal/media
- Cate Swannell