Brief report: glycemic control, quality of life, and school experiences among students with diabetes.
OBJECTIVE
To investigate the relationships among perceived school experiences, diabetes control, and quality of life (QOL) in children with diabetes.


METHODS
Fifty-eight children with type 1 diabetes and their parents participated. The typical child was 12 years old, had diabetes for 5 years, and attended public, suburban, middle/junior high schools with 300-500 students.


RESULTS
Children whose parents reported that school personnel received diabetes training showed significantly better diabetes control than those who reported untrained school personnel. Children who reported their classmates received diabetes training had significantly better QOL than those who reported untrained classmates. Children who reported greater flexibility in performing diabetes care tasks at school had significantly better diabetes control than children who reported less flexibility.


CONCLUSIONS
Students with diabetes continue to face challenges at school. Training staff and classmates and allowing students the maximum appropriate flexibility in diabetes care appears beneficial for disease control and QOL.
Wagner
Julie
J
Department of Behavioral Sciences, University of Connecticut Health Center, Farmington, 06410, USA. juwagner@uchc.edu
Heapy
Alicia
A
James
Amy
A
Abbott
Gina
G
D000124:Achievement; D000293:Adolescent; D003710:Demography; D003922:Diabetes Mellitus, Type 1 / Q000523:psychology* / Q000628:therapy*; D005260:Female; D015438:Health Behavior; D006801:Humans; D006943:Hyperglycemia / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000517:prevention & control* / Q000628:therapy; D008297:Male; D011788:Quality of Life / Q000523:psychology*; D012574:Schools; D013334:Students / Q000523:psychology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires