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Feasibility of Ramadan fasting in adults with type 1 diabetes: an observational study

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Abstract

Ramadan fasting is usually a challenge for both Muslim patients with diabetes and their health care providers. The challenge is even greater in patients with type 1 diabetes. Existing clinical guidelines categorize patients with type 1 diabetes as very-high-risk patients, and therefore, they are advised not to fast. However, many patients with type 1 diabetes choose to fast despite medical advice. In this study, we examine the feasibility of Ramadan fasting in adult patients with type 1 diabetes and define the frequency of acute complications in these patients during Ramadan. In this retrospective study, patients aged 18 years or older with type 1 diabetes who choose to fast during the month of Ramadan in the year 2015 were interviewed during their first visit after Ramadan, and their records were reviewed to determine the number of days in which patients broke the fast, frequency of hypoglycemia, hyperglycemia and diabetic ketoacidosis, and frequency of hospitalization during Ramadan. The 73 patients included in the study were able to fast an average of 26.8 days which corresponds to 92% of total fasting days. Hypoglycemia and hyperglycemia caused the patients to break the fast in 2.36 and 2.78% of the total fasting days, respectively.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Benghazi, Benghazi, Libya

    Abdulwahab Elbarsha, Rafik Elmehdawi, Imhemed Eljazwi & Najat Buzaid

  2. Diabetes Unit, Department of Medicine, Benghazi Medical Center, Benghazi, Libya

    Abdulwahab Elbarsha, Rafik Elmehdawi, Najat Buzaid & Maisoon Elhemri

  3. Department of Medicine, The 7th of October Hospital, Benghazi, Libya

    Imhemed Eljazwi

  4. Diabetes Unit, Department of Medicine, Hawari General Hospital, Benghazi, Libya

    Nezar Mahgob

Authors
  1. Abdulwahab Elbarsha
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  2. Rafik Elmehdawi
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  3. Imhemed Eljazwi
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  4. Najat Buzaid
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  5. Nezar Mahgob
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  6. Maisoon Elhemri
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Abdulwahab Elbarsha.

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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Ethical approval

For this type of study, formal consent is not required; thus, verbal consent was obtained from all the subjects during the interview. The study did not include any active involvement of human subjects, and since there was no dedicated ethical review committee in the institution at the time of our study, we obtained ethical and administrative clearance from department of medicine at the institution which oversees the study clinics.

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Elbarsha, A., Elmehdawi, R., Eljazwi, I. et al. Feasibility of Ramadan fasting in adults with type 1 diabetes: an observational study. Int J Diabetes Dev Ctries 38, 191–194 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13410-017-0575-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13410-017-0575-0

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