Parental knowledge and metabolic control of children and young adults with type 1 diabetes

INTRODUCTION: The authors aimed to answer the following questions: 1) What level of knowledge of type 1 diabetes do the parents of children and young adults with this disease have? 2) Will this level of knowledge increase after 1 year of observation? 3) Does improving the knowledge of young adults and their parents result in better metabolic control of the patients? MATERIAL AND METHODS: This study included 227 patients between the ages of 5 and 20 years with type 1 diabetes. The research was conducted from March 2009 to June 2011. The following two time points were examined: the beginning of the study (test 1a) and one year later (test 1b). The knowledge levels of the patients and parents were obtained using a survey and a knowledge test. RESULTS: Comparison of the results from the two study time points showed that the respondents had a significantly higher level of knowledge after 1 year (p = 0.001). The comparison of glycated hemoglobin levels between the two time points in patients with type 1 diabetes revealed that the levels were significantly higher at test 1b compared to test 1a (p = 0.0005). CONCLUSIONS: The parents of children and young adults with type 1 diabetes demonstrate a satisfactory level of theoretical knowledge of therapeutic conduct and self-monitoring principles. The test 1b results demonstrated a higher level of theoretical knowledge in all respondents and poorer metabolic control. Poorer metabolic control in some patients suggests that metabolic control in type 1 diabetes depends on factors other than education. Further research is necessary to determine these additional factors.