Bonnie Spence
Pronouns: she/her
Research Mentor(s): Melissa Dejonckheere, Assistant Professor
Research Mentor School/College/Department: Department of Family Medicine, Michigan Medicine
Presentation Date: Thursday, April 22, 2021
Session: Session 3 (1pm-1:50pm)
Breakout Room: Room 12
Presenter: 6
Abstract
This mixed-methods study was performed to identify a subset of questions from a variety of validated psychological screening questionnaires to be compiled into a brief psychological screening battery and used to screen major aspects of an adolescent’s adjustment to type one diabetes, as well as to explore patient perspectives and experiences with T1D adjustment. 130 adolescent and young adult patients ages 13 to 24 were recruited via phone and email to complete an online questionnaire containing validated screenings for depression, diabetes distress, anxiety, fear of hypoglycemia, diabetes-related disordered eating, diabetes-related parent-patient conflict, substance use, social support, resilience, and flourishing, as well as their experiences with COVID-19 in order to obtain quantitative data. A subset of participants were then interviewed to obtain qualitative data about the patients’ experiences with and perceptions of diabetes in order to assess whether or not the adjustment measures accurately captured diabetes adjustment or if additional measures were needed to assess the need for psychological support. Information related to diabetes management was also obtained from electronic medical records. The results of Pearson correlations generated to compare the relationships between the psychological assessment questionnaires and electronic health record data showed statistically significant correlations between recent A1c data and both diabetes distress young adults and anxiety, as well as significant relationships between adolescent diabetes distress and both the frequency of review data and the frequency of insulin dosage changes. These significant relationships indicate these questionnaire totals may have clinical utility in indicating the physiological health of young people with type 1 diabetes.
Authors: Bonnie Spence, Dana Albright, Melissa DeJonckheere
Research Method: Clinical Research
