Educational needs of people with type 1 diabetes mellitus and their parents: A cross-sectional study.
Mi-Kyoung Cho, Mi Young Kim
PMID 37043406WHAT IT FOUND
Parents of people with type 1 diabetes reported higher educational needs than the patients themselves in complication management, continuous management, diet, psychosocial needs and risk factors.
Overall education needs did not differ between the two groups.
Key findings
01Parents reported significantly higher educational needs than patients in six categories: complication management, physical activity and exercise, continuous management, diet, psychosocial needs and risk factors.
02Complication management was the highest-ranked educational need for both patients and parents, despite most participants not yet having developed complications.
03There was no statistically significant difference in the overall educational needs score between patients and parents.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
Participants were recruited from an online community, which may not represent the wider population of people with type 1 diabetes. The study measured perceived educational needs, not actual knowledge levels, so high needs scores may reflect fear or uncertainty rather than a lack of information. Most participants were complication-naïve, so findings may not apply to those with established disease complications. The cross-sectional design cannot determine whether education needs change over time or in response to disease progression.
Declared interests
The authors declared no competing interests.
The easy way to misread this
Do not assume that higher educational need scores indicate lower knowledge levels. The paper states that educational needs do not differ depending on current knowledge, so parents' higher scores may reflect greater fear or concern rather than a deficit in understanding.