Equitable Glycemic Improvement in Youth with T1D during COVID-19

Aim: Despite disruptions caused by the COVID-pandemic, prior studies suggest some improvements in glycemic control. We investigated whether this improvement was equitable and seen across socioeconomic status (SES) groups in youth with T1D. Method: Using EHR-extracted visit and CGM data, we geocoded patient addresses linked with census-tract derived education from the 20American Community Survey and a composite measure of SES, the Neighborhood Deprivation Index (NDI) . Analyses included youth ≤18 years old using CGM with T1D duration ≥6 months (age <6 yrs) or ≥1 yr (age ≥6 yrs) . We performed t-tests and regressions comparing SES and CGM metrics during the pandemic (4/1/20-3/15/21) with pre-pandemic (4/1/19-3/15/20) . Results: The pre-pandemic sample had 641 youth (52% female, age 12.5±3.5, T1D 6.2±3.5 yrs) and the pandemic sample had 650 youth (52% female, age 13.5±3.6, T1D 6.8±3.8 yrs) ; 86% were common to both samples. Addresses allowed for geocoding of 98%; 44% of youth lived in low education census tracts where ≥30% of adults in the census tract had no more than a high school education. Mean CGM-derived glucose management indicator (GMI) improved during the pandemic for both those living in lower (8.07±0.05% pre vs. 7.91±0.% during, p<0.05) and higher SES education tracts (7.82±0.% pre vs. 7.69±0.% during) . There was similar improvement in GMI in lower vs. higher SES education tracts (0.16±.vs. 0.13±.06) . Other CGM metrics similarly improved during the pandemic, mean CGM glucose decreased by 6.7 mg/dL and 5.4 mg/dL in low and high SES education tract patients respectively (both p<.05) . Those living in the most deprived NDI areas had the highest GMI both pre and during the pandemic (p<0.05) and demonstrated similar or greater improvements than those from Iess deprived areas. Conclusion: Equitable improvements in CGM metrics during the pandemic was evident in youth with T1D. Future studies can assess how changes in healthcare delivery during the pandemic can reduce disparities and sustain benefits to all patients. Disclosure S.Ojukwu: None. A.Adam: None. T.Kaushal: None. L.J.Tinsley: None. L.K.Volkening: None. C.Chen: None. L.M.Laffel: Advisory Panel; Medtronic, Roche Diabetes Care, Consultant; Boehringer Ingelheim International GmbH, Dexcom, Inc., Dompé, Insulet Corporation, Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Lilly Diabetes, Novo Nordisk, Provention Bio, Inc. Funding National Institutes of Health (K12DK094721, P30DK036836)