Journal Article

Changes in health, lifestyle, and wellbeing of children with type 1 diabetes and their parents during the pandemic

Erjavec, Mihela, Viktor, Simon, Alazmi, Afrah

2024

Overview

Objective The COVID-19 pandemic restrictions have substantially affected people’s health and rapidly changed their daily routines. This is a prospective study that investigated the impact of the pandemic on primary school children with Type 1 diabetes and their parents during the first lockdown in Kuwait. Methods A questionnaire battery related to mental health, well-being, and lifestyle was administered at baseline in Summer 2019 (face-to-face, at a diabetes outpatient clinic) and at follow-up during lockdown in Summer 2020 (via telephone, in adherence with COVID-19 restrictions). Data were collected for 70 dyads with children aged 9–12 years. Results Significant differences were found in most scores for both children and parents. Their mental health worsened to a higher level of depression, anxiety, stress, and a poor level of wellbeing. The average scores on the follow-up tests fell within a clinical range on these measures. Significant differences in their lifestyle, compared to before the lockdown, included decreased levels of physical activity and lower healthy core nutritional intake. Conclusions Our findings indicate that the COVID-19 lockdown has had a significant psychological and possibly physiological impact on children with Type 1 diabetes and their parents. We conclude that there is a need for mental health support services focusing on these groups. Although full lockdown restrictions will have stopped in the past year, post-pandemic stressors may be expected to continue to adversely affect this cohort.

• Publisher: BioMed Central,BioMed Central Ltd,Springer Nature B.V,BMC
• Subject: Adult / Anxiety / Anxiety - epidemiology / Anxiety - psychology / Behavioral Science and Psychology / Care and treatment / Child / Children / Chronic disease / Chronic illnesses / Clinical Psychology / Cognitive Psychology / Control / Coronaviruses / COVID-19 / COVID-19 - epidemiology / COVID-19 - psychology / Data collection / Demographic aspects / Depression - epidemiology / Depression - psychology / Diabetes / Diabetes Mellitus, Type 1 - epidemiology / Diabetes Mellitus, Type 1 - psychology / Disease / Epidemics / Exercise / Exercise - psychology / Families & family life / Fear & phobias / Female / Health aspects / Hospitals / Humans / Kuwait - epidemiology / Life Style / Lifestyles / Male / Mental depression / Mental Health / Pandemics / Parenting / Parents & parenting / Parents - psychology / Physiology / Prospective Studies / Psychology / Psychology Research / Questionnaires / Self esteem / Shelter in place / Stress / Stress, Psychological - psychology / Surveys and Questionnaires / Type 1 diabetes / United Kingdom / Well being / Wellbeing