Determination of fear of hypoglycaemia, quality of life and risk of diabulimia in adolescents with type 1 diabetes

The aim of this study was to investigate the risk of diabulimia, the relationship between fear of hypoglycaemia and quality of life in adolescents with type 1 diabetes and the effect of the risk of diabulimia on them. Between 20 February 2023 and 1 May 2023, 130 adolescents (59 girls and 71 boys) were included in the study. A 24-hour retrospective food consumption record and food consumption frequency form were applied to the individuals. In addition, data were collected using the University of Virginia Low Blood Glucose Scale (adolescent-parent), Quality of Life Scale for Children (adolescent-parent), and Diabetes Specific Eating Disorder Scale. In addition, anthropometric measurements were taken and routinely measured HbA1c and Fasting Blood Glucose were obtained from patient files. The mean age of the subjects of the study was 15.48±1.35 (years). A statistically significant positive correlation was found between the fear of hypoglycaemia scores of adolescents and diabetes age and BMI z score (p<0.05). A statistically significant negative correlation was found between the fear of hypoglycaemia scores of (p=0,026) adolescents and child quality of life scores (p<0.05). It was concluded that there was no statistically significant difference in DEPS-R scores according to the gender of adolescents (p>0.05). HbA1c values of adolescents with DEPS-R score ≥20 were significantly higher (p=0.011). In conclusion, in this study, it was found that adolescents with diabulimia risk had significantly higher fear of hypoglycemia (p=0.026) and lower quality of life (p=0.04) than those without risk. There is a need to determine the risk of diabulimia by applying the DEPS-R scale to all adolescents with type 1 diabetes, to investigate the factors that cause individuals to have high fear of hypoglycemia and low quality of life, and to carry out intervention practices for all these. Keywords: Diabulimia, fear of hypoglycaemia, type 1 diabetes, quality of life, eating disorder