The observation period in each individual patient was
divided into 3 diabetes stages defined by age. The period
#13 years of age (starting after a diabetes duration of at least
1 year) was defined as prepubertal, 14-19 years as pubertal,
and $20 years as postpubertal or young adulthood. The classification into pubertal stages could only be performed by
age, as Tanner stages were not available in the data set. During each period, the median of all available HbA1c-values was
calculated for each patient.