Archives of Disease in Childhood 2008;93:927-931
ORIGINAL ARTICLES
Pilot study of a novel educational programme for 11–16 year olds with type 1 diabetes mellitus: the KICk-OFF course
1 Department of Psychology, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK
2 Sheffield Childrens Foundation NHS Trust, Sheffield, UK
3 Academic Unit of Diabetes, Endocrinology and Metabolism, School of Medicine and Bioscience, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK
4 Royal Manchester Childrens Hospital, Manchester, UK
5 Derbyshire Childrens Hospital, Derby, UK
6 Department of Education, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK
Christine Eiser, Department of Psychology, University of Sheffield, Western Bank, Sheffield, South Yorkshire S10 2TP, UK; c.eiser{at}shef.ac.uk
Aims: To pilot an educational programme (KICk-OFF) for children and adolescents with type 1 diabetes mellitus (DM). Evaluation included (i) independent assessment of curriculum quality, (ii) acceptability to families and (iii) possible impact on standardised outcome measures (HbA1c, body mass index (BMI), diary reports of hypoglycaemia, quality of life (QoL)).
Methods: 48 children aged 11–16 years (mean age 13.60 (SD 1.36) years) were recruited from three UK centres. Six 5-day outpatient courses on carbohydrate counting and insulin dose adjustment were held. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with children and parents before and after the course. Glycaemic control (HbA1c), BMI and frequency of hypoglycaemia were assessed before the course and at 3 and 6 months after intervention. QoL was assessed before the course and at 2 weeks, 3 and 6 months.
Results: Educational evaluation indicated the course format was appropriate and consistent. Parent and child interviews suggested that pre-course expectations were largely met. There were no changes in HbA1c, BMI or episodes of hypoglycaemia, but children and parents reported improved QoL (p<0.05).
Conclusions: KICk-OFF was well-received by children and parents and was associated with improved QoL. In this small pilot study, glycaemic control did not change but findings justify conducting a future randomised controlled trial involving a revised curriculum, a larger study population including a control group and longer follow-up.
Relevant Article
- Atoms
- Howard Bauchner
Arch. Dis. Child. 2008 93: i.[Extract] [Full Text] [PDF]
Register for free content
The full back archive is now available for all BMJ Journals. Institutional subscribers may access the entire archive as part of their subscription. Personal subscribers will also have access to all content when logged in. Non-subscribers who register have free access to all articles published before 2006 right back to volume 1 issue 1. Register here to access the free archive of all BMJ Journals.
Don't forget to sign up for content alerts so you keep up to date with all the articles as they are published.



