Trends in diabetic ketoacidosis in childhood and adolescence: a 15-yr experience

The number of episodes of diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) is a Parkville, Melbourne, Australia significant outcome measure for diabetes care. We ascertained patterns of admission due to DKA over 15yr to determine whether this indicator of diabetes care had improved in parallel with clinical practices. Between 1 January 1985 and 31 December 1999, 630 admissions were reviewed. We subanalyzed these admissions according to whether the patient was newly diagnosed, had infrequent episodes of DKA (non-relapsers) or had frequent (2/yr) episodes of DKA (relapsers). Overall there was a slight downward trend in the incidence of DKA admissions over the study period