Diabetes mellitus na adolescência: experiências e sentimentos dos adolescentes e das mães com a doença

Periodontal parameters and oral hygiene in diabetic and nondiabetic adolescents in Zanjan

Background: Periodontal disease and diabetes mellitus are 2 most common encountered chronic diseases. The occurrence, appearance, and severity of the periodontium tissue conditions vary during adolescence. Also, there is controversy about the relationship between diabetes mellitus and increased periodontal disease breakdown during puberty. This study aimed to assess the periodontal parameters and oral hygiene in diabetic and nondiabetic adolescents in city of Zanjan. Methods: In this case and controls study, 140 diabetic (case) and 140 nondiabetic (control) adolescents were compared. The participants were matched by age, sex, and socioeconomic status using the group matching method. Clinical attachment loss, periodontal pocket depth, gingival index, periodontal index, and bleeding on probing were measured for the 6 Ramfjord index teeth. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics, chi-square test, t test, and one-way ANOVA using SPSS version 18. Results: The mean age of the diabetic and nondiabetic group was 16.7±1.6 and 17.1±0.30 years, respectively. Duration of diabetes was 2.15 ±0.86 years. Mean clinical attachment loss, periodontal pocket depth, gingival index, and bleeding on probing in the patient group were 7.4, 1.68, 12.9, and 97.7%, respectively. All these indices in diabetic adolescents were significantly greater than in nondiabetics. Only the PI was poor in both groups and no significant difference was noted in this respect between the 2 groups. Conclusion: Both diabetic and nondiabetic adolescents had equally poor oral hygiene. Gingivitis and periodontitis indices were significantly poorer in diabetic patients.

How chronic disease affects children's views on being ill and healthy: a comparative study

BACKGROUND

Understanding children's views of illness and health is vital to a child-centred approach in patient education and care. Paediatric healthcare providers should incorporate children's views of health and illness to enable children and their families to participate in self-management plans and achieve better health outcomes. However, there is limited scientific knowledge regarding the views of children with specific diseases.

METHOD

This comparative study investigated whether and in what ways the experience of having different chronic diseases influenced children's views of being ill and healthy. The participants were 82 children aged 8-13 years diagnosed with a chronic disease (31 had asthma, 27 had diabetes and 24 had cancer). A group of 81 healthy children participated as a comparison group. The 'draw-and-write' technique was used to collect the children's views, and the data were analysed using a previously validated coding system (inter-rater agreement of 93%) and subsequently quantified for the examination of any differences in relation to illness.

RESULTS

Statistically significant differences were found in all dimensions of the children's conceptions of health and illness according to whether they had a chronic condition (effect sizes calculated with Cohen's d ranged from 0.35 to 1.22). Globally, the chronically ill children expressed a narrower definition of being healthy and ill than their healthy peers. Moreover, the comparison among the children with asthma, diabetes and cancer showed differences that seemed to reflect their specific experiences with their type of chronic disease and the associated treatments (effect sizes calculated with Eta-squared ranged from 0.07 to 0.25).

CONCLUSIONS

This study's findings can be used to guide education and clinical services tailored to ill children suffering from different chronic conditions.

The perception of nurses regarding educational practices for children with diabetes in hospital care

The aim of this study was to describe the perception of nurses regarding educational practices conducted with children with diabetes in a hospital unit. It is a descriptive qualitative study, conducted in an inpatient unit of a public hospital in Fortaleza, state of Ceará, Brazil, between January and February of 2013, with six nurses. Data were collected by means of semi-structured interviews and submitted to content analysis, from which two categories emerged: role of nurses and staff in caring for the child with diabetes: the necessary intersection; and health education directed at the child with diabetes and family members in the hospital context. Nursing professionals acknowledged educational activities as part of an interdisciplinary care strategy which must occur since the moment the child is admitted. However, they displayed a reductionist view, centered on insulin therapy and changes of habit, which indicates the need for more creative approaches, capable of enhancing learning aspects and minimizing the gaps which prevent the disease from being managed appropriately.

[Feelings of adolescents with diabetes mellitus regarding the process of living with the disease]

Qualitative research conducted in a diabetes service in the countryside of the state of Ceará, Brazil, with 11 teenagers with diabetes mellitus. The study aimed to understand the experience of adolescents facing the process of living with diabetes. Data were collected in 2007 May and June, through semi-structured interviews. It was observed that the teenager faces difficulties since the moment of diagnosis, especially because their food habits and lifestyles need to change, triggering feelings like fear, insecurity and anger. Over time, they incorporate the necessary changes to treatment and care, and begin to see the disease as normal. One concludes that it is necessary to understand teenagers, their behaviors, fears and desires and support them in the different areas of this experience.

[Coping of teenagers with chronic conditions: importance of social network]

This study aimed at investigating the influence of social network on adolescent coping with chronic conditions. Qualitative research whose subjects were hospitalized adolescents who had a diagnosis of chronic disease for at least one year. Data were collected through semi-structured interview and depositions were submitted to thematical analyses. This research highlights that the chronic condition in adolescence brings substantial effects on their lives. Friends, teachers and health professionals are part of the social network. To promote autonomy it is necessary to include adolescents in care planning and to have a social network that supports them in various demands in different stages of illness.