Disordered eating behaviour in adolescents with type 1 diabetes on continuous subcutaneous insulin infusion; relation to body image, depression and glycemic control

BACKGROUND: Disordered eating behaviour (DEB) represents a significant morbidity among people with type-1 diabetes (T1D). Continuous-subcutaneous insulin infusion (CSII) improves glycemic control and psychological wellbeing in those with T1D. However, its relation to DEB remains obscure. OBJECTIVES: To compare DEB among adolescents with T1D on CSII versus basal-bolus regimen and correlate it with body image, HbA1C and depression. METHODS: Sixty adolescents with T1D (30 on CSII and 30 on basal-bolus regimen), aged 12–17 years were studied focusing on diabetes-duration, insulin therapy, exercise, socioeconomic standard, hypoglycemic attacks/week and family history of psychiatric illness. Anthropometric measures, HbA1C, binge eating scale (BES), body image tool, patient health questionnaire-9 (PHQ9) and the Mini-KID depression scale were assessed. RESULTS: Among the studied adolescents with T1D, six had DEB (10%), 14 had poor body-image perception (23.3%), 42 had moderate body-image perception (70%) and 22 had depression (36.7%). Adolescents with T1D on CSII had significantly lower BES (p = 0.022), Mini-KID depression (p = 0.001) and PHQ9 (p = 0.02) than those on basal-bolus regimen. BES was positively correlated to depression (p < 0.001), HbA1C (p = 0.013) and diabetes-duration (p = 0.009) and negatively correlated to body-image (p = 0.003). CONCLUSION: DEB is a prevalent comorbidity among adolescents with T1D, with higher frequency in those on basal-bolus regimen than CSII.