May gender influence the quality of life in children and adolescents with type 1 diabetes?

Karolina Dłużniak-Gołaska; Dorota Szostak-Węgierek; Mariusz Panczyk; Agnieszka Szypowska; Beata Sińska

doi:10.2147/PPA.S206969

May gender influence the quality of life in children and adolescents with type 1 diabetes?

Patient Prefer Adherence. 2019 Sep 20:13:1589-1597. doi: 10.2147/PPA.S206969. eCollection 2019.

Authors

Karolina Dłużniak-Gołaska¹, Dorota Szostak-Węgierek¹, Mariusz Panczyk², Agnieszka Szypowska³, Beata Sińska⁴

Affiliations

¹ Department of Clinical Dietetics, Faculty of Health Sciences, Medical University of Warsaw, Warsaw, Poland.
² Department of Education and Research in Health Sciences, Faculty of Health Sciences, Medical University of Warsaw, Warsaw, Poland.
³ Department of Pediatrics, The First Faculty of Medicine, Medical University of Warsaw, Warsaw, Poland.
⁴ Department of Human Nutrition, Faculty of Health Sciences, Medical University of Warsaw, Warsaw, Poland.

Abstract

Introduction: Appropriate health-related quality of life (HRQOL) in children and adolescents with type 1 diabetes constitutes one of the most important factors that determine treatment effectiveness. There are numerous studies which tackle the issue of the relationship between HRQOL and various clinical and demographic factors, including gender. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to assess HRQOL and identify factors by which it may be affected, with particular emphasis on gender.

Material and methods: The study group included 197 girls and boys (13.9±2.33 years old) with a history of type 1 diabetes (>1 year) treated with the use of insulin pumps. PedsQL Diabetes Module 3.0 questionnaire was used in the assessment of HRQOL. Multivariate linear regression with gender as a covariate was used to investigate the relationship between total PedsQL score and selected variables associated with patient characteristics, insulin dosage and the control of glycemia. Moreover, the presence of gender differences was verified in terms of variables which significantly affected HRQOL.

Results: Significantly higher results were observed in boys as regards the total PedsQL score (70.8±11.91 vs 62.4±13.91; P<0.001) and individual subscales of the questionnaire (except "Worry"). Regression analysis demonstrated the presence of a significant negative relationship between HRQOL assessment and HbA1c concentrations, WHtR value and the frequency of hypoglycemic episodes. However, it was noted that better HRQOL was observed in boys than in girls, regardless of the quality of the metabolic control of diabetes, regular pattern of adipose tissue distribution and experiencing hyperglycemic episodes.

Conclusion: Female gender was an independent factor which adversely affected HRQOL. Other factors which negatively influenced HRQOL included poor metabolic control of diabetes, central distribution of adipose tissue and frequent episodes of hyperglycemia. It seems necessary to focus also on other factors that may potentially influence HRQOL of patients with type 1 diabetes.

Keywords: gender differences; health-related quality of life; type 1 diabetes.