Fear of hypoglycemia in parents of children with type 1 diabetes trained for intranasal glucagon use

Objective

To investigate fear of hypoglycemia (FoH) in parents of children with type 1 diabetes (T1D) before and after undergoing training to learn intranasal (IN) glucagon administration.

Method

In this pre-test/post-test uncontrolled study 364 caregivers of patients with T1D (6–18 years) completed questionnaires measuring sociodemographic characteristics, diabetes-related factors (e.g., type of insulin therapy, glycemic control), and parents' trait anxiety. Parents' FoH was assessed at baseline (T0, training) and after nine months (T1). Two repeated-measure mixed analyses of covariance (ANCOVA) compared the FoH at T0 and at T1 and analyzed the moderating roles of anxiety proneness and type of insulin therapy, as well as of anxiety proneness and use of sensor. Age, T1D duration, HbA1c values, and SES were included as covariates.

Results

Parental FoH at T1 (M = 1.72; SE = 0.06/M = 1.57; SE = 0.09) was significantly lower than parental FoH at T0 (M = 1.89; SE = 0.06/M = 1.77; SE = 0.09). The group with high trait-anxiety had a higher level of FoH (M = 2.05; SE = 0.08/M = 1.89; SE = 0.12) than the group with low trait-anxiety (M = 1.57; SE = 0.08/M = 1.46; SE = 0.09) at both time points. SES was negatively associated with FoH at T0 (t = −2.87; p = .004/t = −2.87; p = .005). No other significant effects were found.

Conclusions

Training and educating parents on IN glucagon use can help them effectively manage hypoglycemic episodes and alleviate the fear that generally accompany such events.