Physical Activity and Quality of Life in Children and Youth With Type 1 Diabetes: A Cross-sectional Analysis

Our aim in this study was to measure physical activity and health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in children and youth with type 1 diabetes (T1D), and to assess the correlation between these variables and with demographic and clinical characteristics in this population.

This cross-sectional analysis includes children and youth 8 to 19 years of age with T1D, drawing from a larger longitudinal study that recruited participants by mail invitation in the interior of British Columbia. Participants wore a Fitbit Charge 5 activity tracker for 28 days to measure physical activity (daily steps). The participants completed the Pediatric Quality of Life (PedsQL) 4.0 Generic Core Scales, yielding a Total PedsQL score, Physical Health Summary score, and Psychosocial Health Summary score, each scale having a range of 0 to 100, with higher scores indicating better HRQoL.

Forty-three of 48 eligible participants (40% girls; median [interquartile range]: age 15.4 [11.3 to 16.4] years; diabetes duration 4.7 [2.1 to 8.7] years; body mass index percentile 71.1 [48.6 to 93.6]; glycated hemoglobin 7.6% [6.8% to 7.8%]) were included in the analysis. Median (interquartile range) daily steps and Total PedsQL scores were 11,570 (8,646 to 13,927) and 78.8 (70.5 to 85.2), respectively. Physical Health Summary scores were, on average, 16% higher than Psychosocial Health Summary scores. Daily step count correlated significantly with Physical Health Summary scores (rho=0.42; p=0.005). Age, diabetes duration, body mass index percentile, and glycated hemoglobin did not show a significant correlation with daily steps or PedsQL Summary scores.

Our sample of participants was physically active, with higher activity correlating with better physical HRQoL. We emphasize the need to support the psychosocial well-being of children and youth with T1D.