title: Glycemic Control, Self-Efficacy and Fear of Hypoglycemia Among Iranian Children with Type 1 Diabetes.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  This study was designed to test the reliability of a Persian version of 2 questionnaires to assess the level of fear of hypoglycemia (FoH) and self-efficacy in diabetes management and their association with glycated hemoglobin (A1C) and parents' demographic characteristics in a sample of children with type 1 diabetes.
  
  
  METHODS
  We assessed 61 children with type 1 diabetes (35 boys and girls, 6.0 to 12.7 years of age) using the Hypoglycemia Fear Survey-Child version (HFS-C) and Self-Efficacy for Diabetes Scale-Child version (SED-C). Their glycemic control was evaluated by A1C levels.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The internal consistency of the Persian version of HFS-C and SED-C were very good. Our results showed that children older than 10 years of age report lower levels of FoH, which are related to higher levels of self-efficacy (r=-.30, p=0.025 and r=-.30, p=0.02, respectively). Of the children, 42.3% of girls and 31.4% of boys reported that low blood sugar is a big problem for them. These findings suggest that FoH is a significant concern for this target group. Only 19.7% of children had controlled diabetes based on A1C levels. There was no significant association between higher A1C levels and other variables, including HFS-C, SED-C and parents' demographic characteristics.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The Persian version of HFS-C and SED-C are reliable and valid measures of the fear of hypoglycemia and of self-efficacy in children with type 1 diabetes, and these questionnaires could be used in our country for identifying those children who may need diabetes education and other supports. The association between greater self-efficacy and lower fear of hypoglycemia suggests that addressing self-efficacy in diabetes education courses may be effective in helping to overcome FoH.
authors: Department of Nutrition, School of Public Health, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors: Fatemehsadat
authors: F
authors: Amiri
authors: Department of Nutrition, School of Public Health, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran. Electronic address: rezavafa1845@gmail.com.
authors: Mohammadreza
authors: M
authors: Vafa
authors: Department of Psychiatry and Neurobehavioral Sciences, University of Virginia Health System, Charlottesville, Virginia, USA.
authors: Linda
authors: L
authors: Gonder-Frederick
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001786:Blood Glucose / Q000378:metabolism; D002648:Child; D003922:Diabetes Mellitus, Type 1 / Q000097:blood / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology*; D005239:Fear / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D038321:Glycemic Index / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D007003:Hypoglycemia / Q000097:blood / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology* / Q000628:therapy; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D020377:Self Efficacy; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
chemical_list: D001786:Blood Glucose
keywords: diabète de type 1; education; enseignement; fear; hypoglycemia; hypoglycémie; peur/inquiétude; self-efficacy; sentiment d’efficacité personnelle; type 1 diabetes