Fear of Hypoglycemia Among Parents of Children With T1DM
Fear of Hypoglycemia Among Parents of Children With T1DM
Hypoglycemia is one of the most common acute complications in insulin-treated diabetes and is indicated to be an important limiting factor for glycemic control in type 1 diabetes. Both nocturnal hypoglycemia and hypoglycemia that causes unpleasant symptoms and situations may frighten not only the person with diabetes but also the relatives and parents. In the treatment of children with type 1 diabetes, being aware of the parents' fear of hypoglycemia is important, since the parents' fear may influence the management of the treatment of the child. The most common instrument for assessing the fear of hypoglycemia among adults with diabetes is the Hypoglycemia Fear Survey (HFS). The HFS – Parent version (HFS-P) is the most common instrument to assess fear of hypoglycemia among parents of children with type 1 diabetes. The HFS-P is adapted from the original adult version and comprises worry and behavior subscales.
Compared with the adult version of HFS, there is less research on the psychometric properties of the HFS-P. Some previous publications have reported adequate reliability for the HFS-P, and one recent publication has reported on the construct validity of the scale. Some studies have identified an association between parental fear of hypoglycemia and poor glycemic control among children with type 1 diabetes. Patton et al. used a modified version of the HFS-P for parents of young children (infants, toddlers and preschool). An association between parental fear of hypoglycemia and poor glycemic control may indicate that the parents' fear causes long-term negative health effects among children with type 1 diabetes. Thus, valid and reliable instruments are needed to reveal and assess parental fear of hypoglycemia. This study therefore aimed to examine the psychometric properties of the HFS-P, including its factor structure, in a population-based study among both the mothers and the fathers of children with type 1 diabetes in Norway.
Background
Hypoglycemia is one of the most common acute complications in insulin-treated diabetes and is indicated to be an important limiting factor for glycemic control in type 1 diabetes. Both nocturnal hypoglycemia and hypoglycemia that causes unpleasant symptoms and situations may frighten not only the person with diabetes but also the relatives and parents. In the treatment of children with type 1 diabetes, being aware of the parents' fear of hypoglycemia is important, since the parents' fear may influence the management of the treatment of the child. The most common instrument for assessing the fear of hypoglycemia among adults with diabetes is the Hypoglycemia Fear Survey (HFS). The HFS – Parent version (HFS-P) is the most common instrument to assess fear of hypoglycemia among parents of children with type 1 diabetes. The HFS-P is adapted from the original adult version and comprises worry and behavior subscales.
Compared with the adult version of HFS, there is less research on the psychometric properties of the HFS-P. Some previous publications have reported adequate reliability for the HFS-P, and one recent publication has reported on the construct validity of the scale. Some studies have identified an association between parental fear of hypoglycemia and poor glycemic control among children with type 1 diabetes. Patton et al. used a modified version of the HFS-P for parents of young children (infants, toddlers and preschool). An association between parental fear of hypoglycemia and poor glycemic control may indicate that the parents' fear causes long-term negative health effects among children with type 1 diabetes. Thus, valid and reliable instruments are needed to reveal and assess parental fear of hypoglycemia. This study therefore aimed to examine the psychometric properties of the HFS-P, including its factor structure, in a population-based study among both the mothers and the fathers of children with type 1 diabetes in Norway.
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