title: Chat line for adolescents with type 1 diabetes: a useful tool to improve coping with diabetes: a 2-year follow-up study.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  We evaluated the impact of a 2-year chat line involving adolescents with type 1 diabetes regarding quality of life and metabolic control.
  
  
  METHODS
  We enrolled 193 children, 10-18 years of age (mean ± SD, 13.6 ± 2.7 years), with type 1 diabetes for 1.2-6 years (3.6 ± 2.4 years), body mass index of 23.2 ± 4.1 kg/m(2), insulin requirement of 0.7 ± 0.3 U/kg/day, and glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) of 7.8 ± 1.1%, who participated in a weekly physician-moderated chat line for a 2-year follow-up period. Each patient completed the Diabetes Quality of Life for Youth Inventory (DQOLY) at baseline and after 1 and 2 years. A measure of glycemic control (HbA1c) was also collected. Data from 17 patients who discontinued using the chat line were not included in the analysis. As controls, 203 patients with type 1 diabetes, age- and sex-matched, with similar HbA1c at baseline and socioeconomic status, were randomly selected among 834 patients who refused to participate in the chat sessions.
  
  
  RESULTS
  DQOLY responses from youth with type 1 diabetes showed a significant improvement (P = 0.0001) only in patients who participated in chat sessions. We observed a decrease of 0.4% in HbA1c in patients who participated in chat session (7.8 ± 1.1% vs. 7.4 ± 0.5%, P < 0.0001) compared with the 0.1% of the controls (7.9 ± 1.9% vs. 7.8 ± 1.8%, P = 0.668). No difference was observed in HbA1c between the two groups (P = 0.056).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  A chat line is also a cheap and effective tool that helps improve diabetes compliance. The chat line could help the diabetes team understand and treat their patients more comprehensively; moreover, it could help patients cope better with their daily life.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Second University of Naples, Naples, Italy. dario.iafusco@unina2.it
authors.forename: Dario
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Iafusco
authors.forename: Alfonso
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Galderisi
authors.forename: Ida
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Nocerino
authors.forename: Alessandra
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Cocca
authors.forename: Gianvincenzo
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Zuccotti
authors.forename: Francesco
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Prisco
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Scaramuzza
mesh_terms: D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000293:Adolescent; D000294:Adolescent Behavior / Q000523:psychology*; D001294:Attitude to Health; D002648:Child; D002652:Child Behavior / Q000523:psychology*; D003922:Diabetes Mellitus, Type 1 / Q000097:blood / Q000523:psychology* / Q000628:therapy; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006442:Glycated Hemoglobin / Q000032:analysis; D015438:Health Behavior; D006801:Humans; D020407:Internet; D007558:Italy; D008297:Male; D010349:Patient Compliance / Q000523:psychology; D010353:Patient Education as Topic / Q000379:methods*; D011788:Quality of Life; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012648:Self Care / Q000523:psychology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
chemical_list: D006442:Glycated Hemoglobin; C517652:hemoglobin A1c protein, human