Supervisors info:
Κυρίτση Ελένη, Ομότιμη Καθηγήτρια, Νοσηλευτική, Πανεπιστήμιο Δυτικής Αττικής
Βλάχου Ευγενία, Αναπληρώτρια Καθηγήτρια, Νοσηλευτική, Πανεπιστήμιο Δυτικής Αττικής
Κουτελέκος Ιωάννης, Καθηγητής, Νοσηλευτική, Πανεπιστήμιο Δυτικής Αττικής
Summary:
Introduction: Health Related Quality of Life (HRQOL) has been the subject of extensive research in the last few years for healthcare professionals. The assessment of the quality of life of children and adolescents began to be appreciated later than that of adults in the 1980s. Childhood and adolescence are periods of rapid physical, mental, and social development, and tools for measuring the quality of life must be pay attention to the dynamic developmental changes of a given time period. Children and their parents may differ in their understanding and perception of the illness and the cure for it, the quality of life of children must be taken into account with that of their parents.
Aim: The purpose of this study is to assess the quality of life of children with diabetes and to compare it with their parent’s perception of their quality of life.
Material and Method: The sample of the study consisted of 54 children aged 8-18 years with DM and 54 parents. The data were collected by completing the PedsQL 3.0 Type 1 Diabetes Module quality questionnaire by the children and their parents. The non-parametric Mann-Whitney Test and Nonparametric Correlations were applied. The materiality level was set to <0.05.
Results: From the 54 children, 53.7% were girls and 96.3% was mothers. The age of children at 46.3% was less than 12 years and 53.7% was 13 years old and above. The time from diagnosis was from 1-3 years at 42.6% and at 57.4 % more than 4 years. The 75.5% injected insulin with pen, while 24.5% injected with pump. The 32.1% had a hypoglycaemic event last year and the 32.1% had more than one. Diabetic ketoacidosis had once in 1.9% of the sample. From the correlation of the overall dimensional score of PedsQL 3.0, there was a positive correlation of the parents' score in the "Diabetes" dimension with the dimensions of the children concerned, "Diabetes", p=0.004, "Treatment I" p=0.004, and "treatment II", p=0.003. The "treatment I" dimension of parents with the dimensions of the child "treatment I" p<0.001, and "treatment II", p=0.003. The "cure II" dimension of parents with the child's dimensions of "diabetes", p=0.002, "treatment I" p<0.001, "treatment II" p<0.001, and communication, p=0.002. The dimension "worries" of parents with the dimensions of the child concerning "diabetes", p=0,003, "worries" p<0,001, and communication, p=0,005. Finally, the "communication" dimension of parents with child's dimensions of "treatment I", p=0.002, "treatment II" p<0.001, and "communication", p=0.001.
Conclusion: The results showed that in the most dimensions of the PedsQL questionnaire 3.0 parents and children are experiencing the same problems. Further studies are necessary to improve the quality of life of children and adolescents with DM.
Keywords:
Quality of life, Children, Diabetes Mellitus, PedsQL 3.0 Type 1 Diabetes Module
