Psychological Assessment of a Sample of Egyptian Children and Adolescents with type 1 diabetes

Abstract Background Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus (T1DM) is the most common type of diabetes in children. Besides the damaging effects of diabetes on various organs, cognitive changes are also very common. Changes in memory, executive function, attention and academic performance are among the most important impairments seen in children with diabetes. Objectives The aim of this work is to do psychological assessment of children and adolescents with type 1 diabetes at Ain Shams University paediatrics hospital including Health Related Quality of life assessment and DSM-5 criteria for diagnosing ADHD. Patients and methods This study is cross sectional case-control study included 140 cases divided into two groups group (A) includes seventy diabetic children recruited from the Paediatric Diabetes Clinic, paediatric hospital, Ain Shams University 35 males (50%) and 35 females(50%) age ranges from 6 to 14 years old with Mean±SD (9.56±2.25), group (B) includes seventy normal children 32 males(45.7%) and 38 females(54.3%) age ranges from 5 to 15.5 years old with Mean±SD (10.32 ± 2.93). Both groups were subjected to full history taking, clinical examination including Anthropometric measures i.e. weight, height, Body Mass Index (BMI), laboratory investigations includes HbA1C, CBC, Metabolic Profile, psychometric assessment includes DSM-5 criteria for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), Conners rating scale, health related quality of life ( HRQL) questionnaire, Pediatric Check List (PCL). Results Cases fulfilling criteria of ADHD (predominantly hyperactive type, predominantly inattentive type, mixed type) more than control group and difference was statistically significant, HRQOL of diabetic children shows lower score than those of the control group and difference was statistically highly significant. Conclusion Diabetes has an important impact on the psychosocial development of the children as they grow up.