Children's knowledge of diabetes and implications for self-care

Fifty-seven children with diabetes (mean age = 12.0 years) were given a forced choice questionnaire to assess their knowledge of the disorder. Parents of 81% of these children completed a second questionnaire to determine how responsible children were for their own self-care. Children were also observed drawing up their own insulin. The data suggest that children who were responsible for their own injections were adequately informed about this aspect of treatment (chi 2 = 9.98, df = 1, p less than 0.05) but those who were felt to be responsible for their own diets were not well informed in this regard (chi 2 = 2.08 N.S.) The data are discussed in terms of the implications for teaching children about diabetes and the insight they give into the effects of diabetes on family life.