P-374: Evaluation of carbohydrate counting knowledge in adolescents with type 1 diabetes
A B Azevedo Fonseca, R Prado, A Horino, I IrberAbstract
Introduction
Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune chronic disease predominantly found in children or adolescents, which involves the destruction of pancreatic cells leading to a lack of insulin production. Nowadays, to manage this disease, insulin in a basal-bolus regimen is recommended, as well as following a nutritional tool called carbohydrate counting. Carbohydrate counting (CC) offers more freedom and life quality for those with type 1 diabetes but is a complex tool that requires some skills. Adolescents typically manage this part of the treatment on their own but experience hormonal and psychological changes in this stage, wich can affect the treatment.
Objectives
This study aims to evaluate some aspects involved in the knowledge of this tool amongst adolescents with type 1 diabetes in Distrito Federal.
Methods
An adaptation of a previously known questionnaire (PedCarbQuiz) was developed and used as well as a socioeconomic questionnaire to access and extract data that was compared and correlated between the teens in a specific health-care center in Distrito Federal. This study applied qualitative and quantitative analysis.
Results
The variable with statistical relevance upon comparing was the duration of time in which the participant uses carbohydrate counting. It was found that those who started using this tool for longer had higher scores.
Conclusions
Even though the other variables were not statistically different upon comparing, their analyses bring more knowledge to improve healthcare and education for those patients as well as lead into the possibility of newer and bigger studies.