%0 Journal Article
%T Prevalence and factors associated with thyroid autoimmunity among children newly diagnosed with type 1 diabetes before and during the COVID-19 pandemic: Evidence from Kuwait.
%A Al-Abdulrazzaq D
%A Albatineh AN
%A Khalifa D
%A Alrefae A
%A Al-Awadhi E
%A Alkandari A
%A Alhomaidah D
%A Cunningham SA
%A Al-Kandari H
%J Diabetes Metab Res Rev
%V 40
%N 5
%D 2024 Jul
%M 38837532
%F 8.128
%R 10.1002/dmrr.3824
%X <B>OBJECTIVE: </B>This study reports the prevalence and characteristics related to the development of thyroid autoimmunity among children newly diagnosed with type I diabetes (T1D) during the COVID-19 pandemic in Kuwait.<BR><B>METHODS: </B>This is a prospective observational study of all children under age 14 years newly diagnosed with T1D in Kuwait. We define the duration of the COVID-19 pandemic from the official declaration of the first identified positive COVID-19 case on 24 February 2020 until 31 December 2022. For comparison, we use the time period directly before the COVID-19 pandemic, 1 January 2017 to 23 February 2020.<BR><B>RESULTS: </B>One thousand twenty-four (1024) children newly diagnosed with T1D in Kuwait during the study period were included. Among newly diagnosed children, 20.3% tested positive for thyroid antibodies during the COVID-19 pandemic, compared with 14.5% during the pre-pandemic period (p = 0.015). Children with positive COVID-19 status were more likely to present with thyroid antibodies (p = 0.035). After adjusting for other characteristics, patients diagnosed with T1D during the COVID-19 pandemic had double the odds of testing positive for thyroid antibodies (Adjusted odds ratio = 2.173, 95%CI: 1.108, 4.261, p = 0.024).<BR><B>CONCLUSIONS: </B>Incident cases of T1D during the COVID-19 pandemic may be different in aetiology or contextual factors leading to a higher risk of thyroid autoimmunity. Longitudinal studies are needed to understand the role of COVID-19 in the onset and progression of T1D and on thyroid autoimmunity and disease.