Diabetic teens ‘ignored’ in treatment

TEENAGERS with diabetes feel ignored when it comes to managing their condition, a new report reveals.

The Diabetes Federation of Ireland says late adolescence is known to be a critical period in diabetes control due to hormonal changes and psychosocial conditions as the young person struggles for autonomy and independence.

Many adolescents omit insulin regularly and this may be related to denial, fear of social stigma, weight gain or fear of hypodermic needles.

Helping adolescents to recognise their internal conflicts would be beneficial to improving quality of life and achieving good diabetes control, the report says.

One in every 600 children/adolescents has type 1 diabetes and the incidence of the disease is rising.

The report is based on the views of 70 adolescents aged between 13 and 18 with type 1 diabetes who attended a conference in Dublin earlier this year.

A major finding was that teenagers felt they were ignored and wanted to be joint decision-makers with their parents and diabetes teams on managing their condition.

They stressed that doctors should remember that when parents are part of the consultation, teenagers should still be involved in the decision-making process.

Report author, Anna Clarke, said that as well as recognition, teenagers wanted hospital visits with various health professionals to be held on the same day so they did not miss school and complained that seeing a different doctor on each visit, resulted in repetition, wasted time and made them distrust the system.

They also want teachers and coaches to have knowledge of diabetes and its management and not rely solely on the teenager for information.

Teenagers are also anxious that their condition was not confused with type 2 diabetes, a condition associated with poor lifestyle habits.