Assessment of diabetes-specific knowledge and its determinants among children with type 1 diabetes mellitus and their primary caregivers: Experience from a tertiary care center in North India.

Abstract

Assessment of diabetes-specific knowledge among children with type 1 diabetes (T1D) and their caregivers using a validated diabetes knowledge test (DKT) and to determine the factors associated with DKT score. A cross-sectional study was conducted in a tertiary care hospital, New Delhi (India). Children 5-18 years with T1D and caregivers were evaluated using a validated DKT tool to assess knowledge in basic and advance domains. The factors associated with DKT scores were studied. 110 T1D children with mean (SD) age 12.2 (3.3) years and duration 5.3 (2.7) years were assessed. The mean (SD) composite DKT score (%) was 58.0 (11.1) while in basic and advance domains were 66.4 (9.5) and 50.4(1.5), respectively. Maternal education (≥graduate), socio-economic strata (≥upper middle), annual per capita income (>Rs 50,000/700 USD), urban setting and HbA1c<8.5 % were significantly associated with higher odds of DKT score>50 %. HbA1c<8.5 % and urban setting were significant predictors of the DKT score on multivariate logistic regression analysis (p<0.001). DKT can identify individual challenges in specific (basic or advance) domains related to diabetes self-management skills. Higher maternal education significantly impacted achieving a high DKT score and improved glycemic control.