Diabetes self‐management, depressive symptoms, metabolic control and satisfaction with quality of life over time in Chinese youth with type 1 diabetes

Aims and objectives To describe the patterns of diabetes self‐management, depressive symptoms, metabolic control and satisfaction with quality of life over time in a cohort of Chinese youth with type 1 diabetes and to determine the relationships between these variables over time. Background Nurses have an important role in facilitating optimal self‐management and health outcomes in youth with type 1 diabetes. Only a few studies have focused on patterns of diabetes adaptation over time in youth with type 1 diabetes, especially in China. Understanding changes in diabetes self‐management, depressive symptoms, metabolic control and satisfaction with quality of life can facilitate assessment and intervention. Design This is a multi‐site longitudinal descriptive study. Data for this report were collected at baseline with 136 eligible Chinese youth and 86 of them were followed up for the second time, 6–12 months after baseline data collection. Methods Instruments to measure diabetes self‐management, depressive symptoms, metabolic control and satisfaction with quality of life were collected at two time points. The data were collected from July 2009–October 2010. Linear mixed model analysis was used to analyse the longitudinal data. Results Self‐management decreased over time; however, depressive symptoms, metabolic control and satisfaction with quality of life did not change from baseline to 6–12 months in this sample of Chinese youth with type 1 diabetes. A decrease in diabetes self‐management over time was associated with worse metabolic control, while an increase in depressive symptoms over time was associated with poorer quality of life satisfaction in this sample. Conclusions Chinese youth faced difficulties with diabetes adaptation, especially with the deterioration of diabetes self‐management. Improving self‐management and decreasing depressive symptoms may enhance diabetes adaptation with respect to metabolic control and quality of life. Relevance to clinical practice The deterioration of diabetes self‐management over time in youth with type 1 diabetes in China deserves nurses' careful surveillance. Clinical interventions appropriate to the Chinese culture and health care system are needed to improve self‐management and depressive symptoms in Chinese youth with type 1 diabetes.