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Identifying sources of support and barriers to physical activity in pediatric type 1 diabetes
Author(s) -
Livny Ruth,
Said Wasim,
Shilo Smadar,
BarYoseph Ronen,
Gal Shoshana,
Oren Meirav,
Levy Milana,
Weiss Ram,
Shehadeh Naim,
ZuckermanLevin Nehama,
Cohen Michal
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
pediatric diabetes
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.678
H-Index - 75
eISSN - 1399-5448
pISSN - 1399-543X
DOI - 10.1111/pedi.12938
Subject(s) - medicine , hypoglycemia , demographics , type 1 diabetes , physical therapy , diabetes mellitus , type 2 diabetes , physical activity , family medicine , demography , sociology , endocrinology
Objectives Reports suggest that children with type 1 diabetes (T1D) perform less than the recommended daily activity and are less active than their non‐diabetic peers. We aimed to: (a) Identify barriers and sources of support for exercise performance in pediatric T1D. (b) Identify strengths and limitations in the exercise‐directed education provided by our diabetes team. Methods Patients with T1D 5 to 20 years of age were recruited while attending a routine clinic visit. Participants completed a set of questionnaires assessing demographics, health data, barriers, and sources of support for exercise performance and diabetes related exercise education. The clinics' medical staff filled‐out a questionnaire assessing the exercise‐directed education provided in clinic. Results Ninety‐six subjects were included in this study, mean age 13.7 ± 3.8 years. Median weekly reported exercise time was 3.5 hours. The two most prevalent barriers were fear of hypoglycemia and low fitness, reported by 76% and 51%, respectively. Mean family and social support scores were 4.1 ± 0.7 and 3.3 ± 1.1, respectively (1‐5 scale); the latter correlated with the amount of activity performed (cc = 0.360; P < .001). The majority of participants (97%) reported receiving guidance for physical activity, to their satisfaction. Yet, knowledge and implementation were suboptimal. All staff members reported conducting routine exercise‐directed teaching, with variations in frequency and content. Conclusions Our findings suggest that in order to increase the amount of safely performed exercise in pediatric patients with T1D, fear of hypoglycemia must be addressed. Further efforts should focus on: (a) encouraging active family and social involvement (b) standardization of education.