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Parental evaluation of a telemonitoring service for children with Type 1 Diabetes
E Losiouk1, G Lanzola1, S Del Favero2
11 Department of Electrical, Computer and Biomedical Engineering, University of Pavia, Italy.
Insights
Parents found telemonitoring for Type 1 Diabetes useful, significantly improving their quality of life and peace of mind. This technology offers real-time oversight and better communication for families managing childhood diabetes.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Endocrinology
- Digital Health
- Patient-Reported Outcomes
Background:
- Type 1 Diabetes management in children requires constant parental oversight.
- Existing management methods can lead to parental fatigue and reduced quality of life.
- Telemonitoring offers a potential solution for real-time data access and improved family support.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the perceived usefulness of a telemonitoring service for parents of children with Type 1 Diabetes.
- To assess the impact of telemonitoring on parental quality of life and daily diabetes management.
- To analyze parental willingness to adopt and pay for telemonitoring solutions.
Main Methods:
- A seven-day clinical trial involving 31 children with Type 1 Diabetes and their parents.
- Administration of baseline and post-study questionnaires to assess parental perceptions and quality of life.
- Analysis of questionnaire data, including free-text comments, to quantify perceived benefits.
Main Results:
- Baseline assessment revealed significant parental suffering and fatigue, with a mean quality of life score of 64.13/100.
- Post-study, approximately 50% of parents anticipated improvements with telemonitoring.
- Telemonitoring adoption significantly increased perceived quality of life to 78.39 (p<0.0001) and showed a median willingness to pay of €200/year.
Conclusions:
- Parents highly appreciated the telemonitoring service, reporting improved mood and peace of mind.
- The service demonstrated potential to enhance communication between families and healthcare providers.
- Telemonitoring is a valuable tool for improving family-centered care in pediatric Type 1 Diabetes management.
Abstract:
Introduction In the past years, we developed a telemonitoring service for young patients affected by Type 1 Diabetes. The service provides data to the clinical staff and offers an important tool to the parents, that are able to oversee in real time their children. The aim of this work was to analyze the parents' perceived usefulness of the service. Methods The service was tested by the parents of 31 children enrolled in a seven-day clinical trial during a summer camp. To study the parents' perception we proposed and analyzed two questionnaires. A baseline questionnaire focused on the daily management and implications of their children's diabetes, while a post-study one measured the perceived benefits of telemonitoring. Questionnaires also included free text comment spaces. Results Analysis of the baseline questionnaires underlined the parents' suffering and fatigue: 51% of total responses showed a negative tendency and the mean value of the perceived quality of life was 64.13 in a 0-100 scale. In the post-study questionnaires about half of the parents believed in a possible improvement adopting telemonitoring. Moreover, the foreseen improvement in quality of life was significant, increasing from 64.13 to 78.39 ( p-value = 0.0001). The analysis of free text comments highlighted an improvement in mood, and parents' commitment was also proved by their willingness to pay for the service (median = 200 euro/year). Discussion A high number of parents appreciated the telemonitoring service and were confident that it could improve communication with physicians as well as the family's own peace of mind.
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