Early onset diabetes: parents' views.
During 1990-91 postal questionnaires were sent to the parents of 309 children living in the United Kingdom who developed diabetes before the age of 2 years during 1972-1981. The aim of the survey was to explore how they had coped with their child's condition. Completed questionnaires were returned by 85% of parents. The children had a mean age of 14 (range 9-19) years and diabetes for a mean duration of 13 (range 9-18) years. The cohort's mean age for starting self-injection was reported to be 8 years and most of the children (82%) were still attending full-time education. Diabetes-related difficulties of school were reported for 34% (95% C I 28-40) of the children and 70 (27%, 95% C I 22-32) were estimated to have missed more schooldays than their peers. With increasing duration of diabetes, parents expressed a reduction in anxiety about practical aspects of management such as injections and monitoring, but concern about hypoglycaemia and long-term vascular complications remained high. Parents of girls were more likely to express worries compared to parents of boys, and this excess was significant for worry about diet (chi 2 1df = 17.021, p < 0.001). The paediatric diabetes team caring for early diagnosed children should be aware of the need to discuss the long-term implications of the disorder and be sensitive to the transition period when the child takes progressively more responsibility for self management and the parent's role diminishes.
Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, University of Leicester, UK.
H
H
Parker
P G
PG
Swift
J L
JL
Botha
N T
NT
Raymond
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D017668:Age of Onset; D002648:Child; D015331:Cohort Studies; D003922:Diabetes Mellitus, Type 1 / Q000523:psychology / Q000534:rehabilitation; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007328:Insulin / Q000008:administration & dosage; D008297:Male; D010290:Parents / Q000523:psychology*; D012648:Self Care; D012917:Social Adjustment; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
D007328:Insulin