Reliability of the Diabetes Fear of Injecting and Self-Testing Questionnaire in Pediatric Patients With Type 1 Diabetes
- Jill H. Simmons, MD,
- Kim K. McFann, PHD,
- Alex C. Brown, MPE,
- Amanda Rewers,
- Donna Follansbee, PHD,
- Rita E. Temple-Trujillo, LCSW and
- Georgeanna J. Klingensmith, MD
- From the Barbara Davis Center for Childhood Diabetes, University of Colorado Health Sciences Center, Denver, Colorado
- Address correspondence and reprint requests to Jill Simmons, MD, 11136 Doctor's Office Tower, 2200 Children's Way, Nashville, TN 37232-9170. E-mail: jill.h.simmons{at}vanderbilt.edu
- D-FISQ, Diabetes Fear of Injecting and Self-Testing Questionnaire
- FSI, fear of self-injecting
- FST, fear of self-testing
The Diabetes Fear of Injecting and Self-Testing Questionnaire (D-FISQ) has been validated in the adult population (1–4), but there is no reliable tool to assess needle fear in the pediatric population with type 1 diabetes. Our objectives were to demonstrate the reliability of the D-FISQ in the pediatric type 1 diabetic population, to evaluate the prevalence of needle fear, and to determine the ability of medical care providers to identify needle fear.
RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS—
Patients aged 2–21 years with type 1 diabetes were eligible to participate if they had a diabetes duration of >1 month, took insulin by injection, and were English speaking. Exclusion criteria included being a ward of the state, using continuous subcutaneous insulin infusion therapy, and not having a parent/legal guardian present. Potential subjects were approached by study personnel at regularly scheduled clinic visits, and consent was obtained. The study was approved by the institutional review board.
The D-FISQ was administered to each subject and his/her parent or guardian. The D-FISQ is a 30-item self-report questionnaire consisting of two subscales that measure fear of self-injecting (FSI) and fear of self-testing (FST), the latter measuring fear of blood glucose testing (1). The D-FISQ was administered to each parent and each child as follows. If the child self-administered his/her own injections and/or …
