Sustained attention deficits in adults with juvenile-onset type 1 diabetes mellitus.

Abstract

OBJECTIVE\nThis study aimed to investigate whether patients with juvenile-onset type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) have poorer sustained attention than their counterparts with adult-onset T1DM, and whether there is a relationship between diabetes-related variables and sustained attention.\n\n\nMETHODS\nThis study included 76, 68, and 85 participants with juvenile-onset and adult-onset T1DM, and healthy controls (HCs), respectively. All participants completed the Sustained Attention to Response Task, Beck Depression Inventory-II, and the Chinese version of the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale.\n\n\nRESULTS\nThe juvenile-onset group showed more omission errors (p = .007) than the adult-onset group and shorter reaction time (p = .005) than HCs, while the adult-onset group showed no significant differences compared with HCs. Hierarchical linear regression analysis revealed that the age of onset was associated with omission errors in T1DM participants (β = -0.275, t = -2.002, p = .047). In the juvenile-onset group, the omission error rate were associated with the history of severe hypoglycemia (β = 0.225, t = 1.996, p = .050), while reaction time was associated with the age of onset (β = -0.251, t = -2.271, p = .026). Fasting blood glucose levels were significantly associated with reaction time in both the juvenile-onset and adult-onset groups (β = -0.236, t = -2.117, p = .038 and β = 0.259, t = 2.041, p = .046, respectively).\n\n\nCONCLUSION\nAdults with juvenile-onset T1DM have sustained attention deficits, in contrast to their adult-onset counterparts, suggesting that the disease adversely affects the developing brain. Both the history of severe hypoglycemia and fasting blood glucose levels are factors associated with sustained attention impairment. Early diagnosis and treatment in juvenile patients are required to prevent the detrimental effects of diabetes.