Ovulation rate in adolescents with type 1 diabetes mellitus.

Objective: To study ovulation in adolescents with type 1 diabetes (T1D) and the effect of hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) levels on their ovulatory function.

Design: Prospective investigation.

Setting: Academic research institute.

Patient(s): Adolescents with T1D (n=31) and healthy girls (n=52).

Intervention(s): Ovulation assessed through the measurement of salivary progesterone (days 13, 18, 23, and 28 of each cycle).

Main Outcome Measure(s): Proportion of ovulatory cycles.

Result(s): A total of 168 and 281 menstrual cycles were studied in the T1D and control girls, respectively. Metabolic control was defined as optimal if HbA1c was <7.5%. The proportion of ovulatory cycles was similar in the TID and control groups (34.5% and 36.3%, respectively). Regression analyses showed that the presence of T1D did not have a statistically significant effect on the ovulatory rate. However, more ovulatory cycles were observed in girls with T1D who had optimal metabolic control compared with those who had insufficient control (51.3% vs. 29.4%).

Conclusion(s): In adolescent girls, T1D did not affect the rate of ovulation. A higher ovulatory rate was observed in those with optimal control compared with those with insufficient metabolic control, but a substantial proportion of ovulatory cycles were still observed in patients with higher HbA1c levels.