Health related quality of life and family impact of type 1 diabetes among adolescents in Saudi Arabia

AimTo measure the health related quality of life (HRQoL) among Saudi Arabian adolescents with type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) and the impact the disease has on the family.MethodologyA cross sectional study was conducted involving 315 adolescent patients (12-18 years) and their caregivers. Adolescent HRQoL was assessed by adolescents and their parents completing the Peds QL™ Diabetes Module 3.0. Family impact was assessed by the parent completing the Peds QL™ Family Impact module (FIM).ResultsAdolescents reported a cumulative mean HRQoL score of 64.8, while parents reported significantly lower scores of 60.3 (p = 0.003). The lowest scores reported by both adolescents and parents were for “Worry”. Female gender and late adolescent age were predictors of lower HRQoL for adolescents with T1DM. The FIM showed low scores for “Emotional functioning” (59.8) and high scores for “Family relationships” (80.9).ConclusionThese findings emphasize the importance of an interdisciplinary, biopsychosocial and family centered care approach to adolescents with a chronic disease. Future work could assess the effectiveness of direct care involvement of adolescent and mental health experts in improving the HRQoL for this population.