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Licensed Unlicensed Requires Authentication Published by De Gruyter April 7, 2016

Health-related quality of life in children and adolescents with type 1 diabetes mellitus from Montenegro: relationship to metabolic control

  • Mira Samardzic EMAIL logo , Husref Tahirovic , Natasa Popovic and Milena Popovic-Samardzic

Abstract

Background: The aim of this study was to evaluate health-related quality of life (HRQOL) in children and adolescents with type 1 diabetes (TIDM) in Montenegro compared with healthy controls and to estimate the effect of metabolic control on perceptions of HRQOL.

Methods: This study involved children and adolescents with T1DM, age- and gender-matched healthy children and their parents. Children and adolescents with T1DM and their parents completed Peds QL 4.0 Generic Core Scales (GCS) and PedsQL 3.0 Diabetes Module. Healthy children and their parents completed self- and proxy-report of Peds QL 4.0 GCS.

Results: Our study (self- and proxy-report) showed that children and adolescents with T1DM had lower HRQOL on domain “Psychosocial health” and “School functioning” compared with healthy population (p=0.008; p≤0.001). Lower glycosylated hemoglobin (HbAlc) values were associated with fewer worries, and better health perception by diabetic children and their parents. We did not find notable differences between boys and girls on health perception. Different age groups reported similar QOL. Parents reported that the illness has a greater impact on children’s lives than the children reported themselves.

Conclusions: Compared with the healthy children, the HRQOL was lower among children and adolescents with T1DM. Lower HbA1c was associated with better quality of life.

Acknowledgments:

We acknowledge the research assistance of Biljana Kraljević and Katarina Dragojević and the statistical expertise of Pavle Gegaj. We acknowledge the support of staff in the kindergartens, elementary schools and high schools that helped in completing the control group questionnaires. The authors thank Dragan Laušević for his assistance in forming the control group.

Author contributions: MS researched the data and wrote the manuscript, HT contributed to discussion and reviewed the manuscript, MPS was the principal investigator, contributed to the statistical analysis, NP was the investigator. All the authors have accepted responsibility for the entire content of this submitted manuscript and approved submission.

Research funding: None declared.

Employment or leadership: None declared.

Honorarium: None declared.

Competing interests: The funding organization(s) played no role in the study design; in the collection, analysis, and interpretation of data; in the writing of the report; or in the decision to submit the report for publication.

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Received: 2015-10-6
Accepted: 2016-1-22
Published Online: 2016-4-7
Published in Print: 2016-6-1

©2016 by De Gruyter

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