Eureka! Institutional Repository

Introduction: Type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM), is a chronic metabolic disease that mainly affects young patients and its prevalence is rising in younger children. The role of the family is proven to be particularly important because parents and caretakers are burdened with the task to manage all issues concerning diabetes. Establishing correct knowledge concerning the management of Type 1 diabetes mellitus is very important to ensure the long term health and quality of life for children and teenagers. At the same time, a gradual transfer of the management of diabetes, from the parents-caretakers to the children-patients, must be ensured. So it proves as worthy task to investigate and assess the level of knowledge of parents, through a structured process. This way it can be ensured that the knowledge transferred will not be incomplete or incorrect and that the young patients will gradually and safely accomplish self-management of their diabetes. Aim: The aim of this thesis is to investigate and assess the level of knowledge of parents concerning the management of Type 1 diabetes mellitus and how is it influenced by demographic and social factors, such as age, gender, place of residence, occupational status, years that Type 1 diabetes mellitus has been diagnosed, level of education, and education concerning Diabetes. Material and Methods: The population that was surveyed consisted of 123 parents of children up to 18 years old that suffer from Type 1 diabetes mellitus and are members of Hellenic Diabetes Associations. The data was collected through the structured questionnaire “Revised Brief Diabetes Knowledge Test (DKT2)” of Fitzgerlad et al (2016). The statistical analysis of the collected data was carried out with the use of IBM SPSS 27.0 ((Statistical Package for Social Sciences). Results: According to the results of the current thesis, the participants showed a good level concerning both general knowledge about Type 1 diabetes mellitus and the use of insulin. In addition, it was shown that the level of general knowledge is connected to gender, place of residence, level of education, years that the diabetes have been diagnosed and if there has been received education about Type 1 diabetes mellitus. The level of knowledge concerning the use of insulin was proven to be connected to gender, age, level of education, years that the diabetes have been diagnosed and if there has been received education about Type 1 diabetes mellitus. Conclusions: The continuous, personalized education of parents and children, should be an irreplaceable part of every therapeutic approach of Type 1 diabetes mellitus, so as to achieve successful metabolic control and psychological prosperity. Moreover, it is essential to include in every therapeutic approach, the frequent investigation and assessment of the level of knowledge of parents so as to ensure the transfer of correct and up-to-date information to the children. This will ensure that the young patients will gradually and safely accomplish self-management of their diabetes.