Quality of Life in First Nation Youth with Type 2 Diabetes

Abstract

To assess quality of life (QOL) in youth with type 2 diabetes, to compare youth and parent-proxy perceptions of youth QOL, to determine if youth QOL is associated with diabetes control, and to determine if demographic and/or medical history is associated with youth QOL and/or diabetes control. The study was quantitative and cross-sectional with a descriptive correlational approach. We administered the Pediatric QOL Inventory 4.0 (PedsQL 4.0) and the Pediatric QOL 3.0 Diabetes Module (PedsQL 3.0) questionnaires to 28 youth with type 2 diabetes aged 7-18 and their parents attending a regional diabetes program in Winnipeg, Manitoba that serves a large geographic region of central Canada. We examined QOL scores for the generic and diabetes specific tools, and for correlation between the child and parent scores. We examined youth QOL scores along with medical and family history variables for their predictive value on diabetes control as measured by the glycosylated hemoglobin A1C value. Youth with type 2 diabetes reported higher scores in all domains of the generic and diabetes-specific tools compared to their parent report, indicating that the youth were more optimistic about their health-related QOL than their parents. The youth and their parents reported lowest QOL scores in the school-functioning, Worry and Communications scales related to diabetes. Living in remote communities, family experience with complications of diabetes, duration of diabetes, high A1C, and oral medications (but not insulin) had a negative impact on specific domains. First Nation youth with type 2 diabetes have a higher QOL than is perceived by their parents. QOL may be affected by specific demographic and clinical factors that may be modifiable to reduce the psychosocial burden of illness. These findings have implications for designing counseling strategies for adolescents with type 2 diabetes and their parents.