ESPE Abstracts (2014) 82 P-D-2-3-344

ESPE2014 Poster Category 2 Diabetes (2) (22 abstracts)

Lifestyle and Health Related Quality of Life in Adolescents with Diabetes Mellitus Type 1

Enza Mozzillo a, , Eugenio Zito a , Elena De Nitto a , Carla Cerrato a , Rosa Nugnes a , Valentina Fattorusso a , Adriana Franzese a & Giuliana Valerio b


aSection of Pediatrics, Department of Translational Medical Science, University of Naples Federico II, Naples, Italy; bDepartment of Movement Sciences, Parthenope University of Naples, Naples, Italy


Background: Adolescence is a critical period of life, and even more if a chronic illness is present like type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM). The healthy lifestyle practice is one of the pillars of the T1DM treatment.

Objective and hypotheses: To evaluate the association between lifestyle and health related quality of life (HRQoL) in adolescents with T1DM.

Method: Lifestyle and HRQoL were evaluated in 69 T1DM adolescents (34 male, mean age 15.8±1.7 years, with diagnosed with T1DM more then 2 years, without other diseases) attended to the Pediatric Diabetology Regional Center of our Department. Lifestyle was evaluated through the following behaviours: healthy nutrition (KIDMED questionary), moderate/intensive physical activity (questionary), hours/day of television, consumption of tobacco, consumption of alcohol. Health Style (HS+) was defined by concurrence of at least four of the following behaviours: KIDMED ≥8, physical activity for 7 days/week, television <2 h/day, no consumption of tobacco, no consumption of alcohol. HRQoL has been evaluated with PedsQL 3.0 Diabetes Module, composed by five scales: (1) diabetes symptoms, (2) management difficulties, (3) adherence to therapy, (4) worry and (5) communication.

Results: Only 18 T1DM adolescents showed HS+(26%) and higher scores (P<0.05) than those with no health style (HS−) in scales 1, 3 e 4 of PedsQL, without difference in scale 2. Even higher levels (P<0.05) were found in adolescents less sedentary (scale 1) and in those who practiced sport (scale 5). Diabetic adolescents with HS+ perceived the illness less problematically and showed increased adherence to treatment, they were less concerned about the disease and communicated more with doctors and sanitary team.

Conclusion: This is the first study that investigates the association between HRQoL and a cluster of healthy behaviors, these singularly examined in other papers of literature.

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