Supervisors info:
Κυριάκος Σουλιώτης, Αναπληρωτής Καθηγητής, Σχολή Κοινωνικών Επιστημών, Πανεπιστήμιο Πελοποννήσου
Ιωάννης Τούντας, Καθηγητής, Ιατρική, ΕΚΠΑ
Βασιλική Μπενέτου, Αναπληρώτρια Καθηγήτρια, Ιατρική, ΕΚΠΑ
Summary:
Ιntroduction : Diabetes Mellitus is a chronic multifactorial disease which requires a demanding treatment, that affects the quality of life for children and their families.
Aim : The purpose of this study was to explore and to identify the factors that affect the quality of life for children with diabetes, through recording parenting experiences and associating these experiences with demographic characteristics of the parents. Secondary study goal was to explore the parents’ willingness to pay for more effective treatment, so as to reduce the risk of complications of diabetes.
Methods : The sample of the study was 312 parents of children with diagnosed diabetes Type 1, age < 18. The questionnaire that was used was “ PedsQL Diabetes Module Version 3.0” . The scales were applied to parents of children attending the Diabetes Centers of the Pediatric Hospital of “A. & P. Kyriakou” and the Pediatric Hospital “Saint Sophia”. At the same time the questionnaire has been posted to the social networking media. The statistical package used to analyze the data and their statistical processing was IBM SPSS 20.0 (Statistical Package for Social Sciences).
Results : The average age of the sample was 42,8 years and the average age of the children with diabetes was 10,9 years. 67% of patients follow an intensive multi – injection regimen for their treatment. The results of the statistical analysis showed that the average overall quality of life of children, as recorded by parents’ references, was 63,4 ± 14,1, with the score in the individual dimensions of the quality of life considered to be at the same level. The average score of the communication ¨dimension¨ was lower, at 56,4 ± 21,4. From the multivariate linear regression applied, there was a statistical relationship between the increase in the educational level (b = 2,62, p = 0,024), the family income (b = 1,339, p = 0,029) and the regular visits to the diabetic clinic (b= 0.179, p <0.001) with an increase in the quality of life of children with diabetes Type 1.The higher the quality of life scores the less or of less intensity / importance are the problems. The willingness to pay was investigated in terms of three parameters, the purchase of modern blood sugar monitoring devices, prevention of complications and access to more effective drug therapy. From the bipolar correlations, a statistically significant relationship between the payment intent and the income (p <0.001) was found, and the intention to pay was not related to the educational level.
Conclusions : The majority of children with diabetes Type 1 showed a relatively high level of quality of life. The study showed that the problems faced by children and their families are of low to moderate intensity and importance. The insulin therapy scheme followed was not found to affect the level of quality of life, as opposed to income, parent's educational level, and regular visits to the diabetes clinic. The intention to pay for more effective treatment is closely dependent on family income.
Keywords:
Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus, Insulin Therapy, Quality of Life, PedsQL Diabetes Module Version 3.0, Willingness to pay (WTP).
