Adolescents' Experiences of Being a Sibling of a Child With Type 1 Diabetes: A Qualitative Study.
Ingeborg Enes Ludvigsen, Anne Haugstvedt
PMID 42159283WHAT IT FOUND
Siblings of children with type 1 diabetes described fear, feeling left out, and disrupted sleep, but also growing confidence.
They wanted health professionals to explain diabetes early and include them as family.
Key findings
01Siblings described frightening low blood glucose episodes, and said knowledge made them feel safer.
02They often felt left out and deprioritized, while some also said diabetes brought the family closer together.
03They wanted health care professionals to give them diabetes information early, explain what to expect, and treat them as part of the family.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
The sample was small and self-recruited, so it may mainly represent siblings who were already interested or engaged. The participants were Norwegian and aged 16 to 24, and they had to have been a sibling of a child with type 1 diabetes before age 18, which limits transferability to other settings and age groups. No member checking was done, so the themes were not verified with the participants. The study describes experiences and cannot show how common these feelings are or whether including siblings improves care.
Declared interests
The authors received no financial support and declared no potential conflicts of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that giving siblings diabetes education improves their wellbeing or diabetes management. This qualitative study describes 10 self-selected adolescent experiences and wishes; it did not test an intervention.