Does Age at Diabetes Diagnosis Influence Long-Term Physical and Behavioral Outcomes?
- Aaron E. Carroll, MD, MS12,
- Ronald T. Ackermann, MD, MPH234,
- Edward J. Brizendine, MS3,
- Changyu Shen, PHD23 and
- David G. Marrero, PHD234
- 1Department of Children’s Health Services Research, Indiana University, Indianapolis, Indiana
- 2Regenstrief Institute for Health Care, Indianapolis, Indiana
- 3Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, Indiana
- 4Diabetes Prevention and Control Center, Indiana University, Indianapolis, Indiana
- Address correspondence and reprint requests to Aaron E. Carroll, MD, MS, HITS (Health Information and Translational Science) Building, Room 1020, 410 W. 10th St., Indianapolis, IN 46202. E-mail: aecarro{at}iupui.edu
Type 1 diabetes is a complex chronic illness. Because self-care is such an essential element of successful diabetes management, cognitive and behavioral aspects of childhood development may interfere with effective self-care behaviors and impact the probability of later complications. The objective of this study was to examine whether the age at diagnosis of diabetes is significantly related to physical and behavioral outcomes in adulthood. It may be that children diagnosed in adolescence spend their first few years with diabetes rebelling against the therapeutic demands of treatment. An intense phase of inadequate care could lead to health consequences later in life; behaviors adopted in adolescence could also linger long into adulthood. Conversely, it is possible that being diagnosed very early in life leads to a dependence on others that affects health and behavior long into the future.
RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS—
This study used the patient survey data collected as part of the Translating Research into Action for Diabetes (TRIAD) study, which has been previously described (1). All patients with diabetes who participated in the TRIAD study, had baseline patient survey and chart review data for the period between July 2000 and October 2001, and reported being diagnosed with diabetes at or before 21 years of age were selected for inclusion in this study. The CASRO response rate was 69% (2).
We extracted information about health and social outcomes. Health outcomes included reported weight, BMI, prevalences …
