A determination of the quality of life of children and adolescents with type 1 diabetes and their parents

Objective: Type 1 diabetes is a chronic illness which can have a negative effect on the health care and development of children and can put their lives in danger. This descriptive study aimed to determine the quality of life and the factors affecting it of children and adolescents with type 1 diabetes using the Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory (PedsQL).Methods: The study was conducted in the Child Endocrinology Unit of a University Hospital in Bursa, Turkey. Totally 64 children eight-12 years and 85 adolescents aged 13-18 with type 1 diabetes and their parents were recruited. HbA1c measurements were obtained from the records of the endocrinology clinicare, which were made once every three months, and the average of the last three measurements was taken in the study. The PedsQL was used to measure quality of life of the children and adolescents. The data was analyzed using SPSS version 20.0 and P<0.05 was considered significant. The demographic data of the children and parents were analyzed using means and percentiles. Pearson's correlation analysis was used to assess the relationship between two averages. Results: Of the sub-groups on the scale, affective and school function scores were somewhat low, and social function scores were high. The quality of life scores of the children and adolescents were found to correlate with those of their parents. A negative correlation was found between HbA1c levels and adolescent quality of life, a positive correlation was found between the child's age and the quality of life of the child and parents, and a negative correlation was found between the number of children in the family and the quality of life of the child and parents. Conclusions: An evaluation of the quality of life after a diagnosis of diabetes can be used to assess the problems which may be faced by children and adolescents and to combat these problems.

Evaluation of morbidity in Schistosoma mansoni-positive primary and secondary school children after four years of mass drug administration of praziquantel in western Kenya

Background:World Health Organization guidelines recommend preventive chemotherapy with praziquantel to control morbidity due to schistosomiasis.The primary aim of this cross-sectional study was to determine if 4 years of annual mass drug administration(MDA)in primary and secondary schools lowered potential markers of morbidity in infected children 1 year after the final MDA compared to infected children prior to initial MDA intervention.Methods:Between 2012 and 2016 all students in two primary and three secondary schools within three kilometers of Lake Victoria in western Kenya received annual mass praziquantel administration.To evaluate potential changes in morbidity we measured height,weight,mid-upper arm circumference,hemoglobin levels,abdominal ultrasound,and quality of life in children in these schools.This study compared two cross-sectional samples of Schistosoma mansoni egg-positive children:one at baseline and one at year five,1 year after the fourth annual MDA.Data were analyzed for all ages(6–18 years old)and stratified by primary(6–12 years old)and secondary(12–18 years old)school groups.Results:The prevalence of multiple potential morbidity markers did not differ significantly between the egg-positive participants at baseline and those at 5 years by Mann Whitney nonparametric analysis and Fisher’s exact test for continuous and categorical data,respectively.There was a small but significantly higher score in school-related quality of life assessment by year five compared to baseline by Mann Whitney analysis(P=0.048)in 13–18 year olds where malaria-negative.However,anemia was not positively impacted by four annual rounds of MDA,but registered a significant negative outcome.Conclusions:We did not detect differences in morbidity markers measured in a population of those infected or re-infected after multiple MDA.This could have been due to their relative insensitivity or a failure of MDA to prevent morbidity among those who remain infected.High malaria transmission in this area and/or a lack of suitable methods to measure the more subtle functional morbidities caused by schistosomiasis could be a factor.Further research is needed to identify and develop well-defined,easily quantifiable S.mansoni morbidity markers for this age group.