Adults who develop type 2 diabetes before age 40 have an excess of hospitalisations during their lifetime, including an “unexpectedly” large burden of serious mental illness in young adulthood, according to a population-based study from Hong Kong.

Although an increased risk of distress and anxiety in young people with diabetes has been noted previously, this high risk of hospitalisation has not been reported before, says author Dr Juliana Chan, from the Chinese University of Hong Kong.