Abstract

BackgroundStudies consistently found remarkable rates of posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS) in children with chronic diseases. But, only one study had searched PTSS in children with diabetes, until now. So, the present study aimed to examine incidence rate and predictors of PTSS in children with type 1 diabetes.MethodPTSS were evaluated by Child Posttraumatic Stress Reaction Index in fifty four children with diabetes (aged between 8–18 years). This assessment was based on hypoglycaemia as the potential traumatic event. Children were also introduced a brief questionnaire about demographic and disease related information. Some other information was obtained from families, medical stuff and records. Among 54 children, forty two had complete information. Hence, to evaluate possible predictive factors related with PTSS, multiple regression analysis was conducted for 42 children.Results18.5% of children were reported PTSS at severe or very severe level, and 51.9% were reported PTSS at moderate level or above. Multiple regression analyses were shown that child PTSS were not significantly related with possible predictive factors other than number of hypoglycaemic attacks for the last month.ConclusionThe study results support that posttraumatic stress symptoms are not rarely seen in paediatric patients with diabetes, and even if not severe, hypoglycaemic attacks may be perceived as traumatic by the children with diabetes. But, because of some limitations, the results should be carefully interpreted.

Highlights

  • Studies consistently found remarkable rates of posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS) in children with chronic diseases

  • The study results support that posttraumatic stress symptoms are not rarely seen in paediatric patients with diabetes, and even if not severe, hypoglycaemic attacks may be perceived as traumatic by the children with diabetes

  • Child Posttraumatic Stress Reaction Index (CPTS-reaction index (RI)) and a brief demographic questionnaire were introduced to all the children at the camp (n = 79). 54 of the children at the camp were voluntary for this evaluation and filled CPTS-RI and the questionnaire

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Summary

Introduction

Studies consistently found remarkable rates of posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS) in children with chronic diseases. Only one study had searched PTSS in children with diabetes, until now. The present study aimed to examine incidence rate and predictors of PTSS in children with type 1 diabetes. Studies of paediatric patients and/or their parents consistently found remarkable prevalence rates of posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS) and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) for variety of chronic physical illnesses. Prevalence of PTSS and/or PTSD in paediatric patients with cancer varies across the studies and has been estimated between 2-20% in survivors, even many years after the end of cancer treatment [3,4]. In a study with inner city children with severe asthma, 25% of the sample met the criteria for PTSD [5]

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