QoL in Southtyrol T1D Pediatric Patients Psycho-social Well-being, Quality of Life, Health Status and Family Conflicts in a South-tyrolean Group of Pediatric Patients with Diabetes Mellitus Type I

Background: Psychological well-being and metabolic control in pediatric patients with diabetes mellitus type I (T1D) could be negatively influenced by adolescence current age, age at the diagnosis, lower economic condition and lower education status and by higher family conflict. However, they reported lower or comparable levels of emotional difficulties compared with normative population.

Objective: To understand psycho-social symptoms, quality of life, health status and family conflicts of pediatric patients with T1D in the unique cultural environment of South-Tyrol. The present study has two goals. The first is to understand psychological symptoms and to investigate the possible risk factors. The second deals with the subgroup of adolescents, comparing their psychological functioning with a healthy control group.

Methods: Patients (n=59) with a mean age of 13.19 years (SD=3.26; range 8–18) were contacted at the Day Hospital check-ups and self- and proxy-reported questionnaires were administered: CBCL/ YSR, DFCS-R, DQOLY-SF. From this group, 45 patients aged 11–18 were matched by gender and age in months with a control group of healthy peers.

Results: Glycemic control was severely inadequate and a subgroup of patients showed lower indexes of total competencies and activities performed, especially if they were of poor economic condition and had the illness for a longer duration. The adolescent patients self-reported better psychological functioning than their healthy peers, except for conduct problems.

Conclusions: Specific psycho-social interventions should address the dangerous levels of metabolic control indexes and mitigate the patients’ conduct problems.