The purpose of this study was to identify the degrees of performing self-care activities, knowledge about juvenile diabetes mellitus and symptom experience, and to investigate the performance of self-care activities by general characteristics, knowledge, symptom experience. The ultimate aim was to provide a basic data in developing nursing intervention for the children with diabetes mellitus.
The subjects of this study were 42 juvenile diabetic children aged between 8 and 18 who had participated in a diabetes mellitus camp for diabetic children from July 7 to 10, 1990.
The subjects filled out questionaires with knowledge about diabetes mellitus, symptom experience of diabetes mellitus, performance of self-care activities during the last 2 days of the camp. Four nursing students who had experienced4with nursing care of diabetic children explained the content of the questionaires to the subjects.
The results were as follows:
1. Mean score of performing self-care activities was 52.95, that of self- care about diet 15.68, that of self-care about blood glucose control 25.69, and that of self-care about general care 11.59. That is, 75.6% of the subjects performed self-care activities, 62.7% self-care about diet, 85.6% self-care about blood glucose control, and 77.3% self-care about general care.
2. Fifteen subjects(65.7%) scored 12 to 14, 10 (23.8%) scored 10 to 11, and 7 (16.7%) scored 7 to 9 in the total of 14 questions of the knowledge of diabetes mellitus. Mean score of it was 0.79 on a 0 1 point scale.
3. Of the subjects, 22 (52.4%n) experienced 4 to 6 symptoms, 14 subjects 1 to 3 symptoms, and the rest 7 to 9 symptoms. Twenty-five subjects(59.5%) had no complication of diabetes mellitus, while 9(21.4%) experienced 1 complication.
4. Mean score of performing self-care about diet in diabetic children aged between 8 and 12 was significantly higher than that of those aged between 13 and 18 (P = 0.0026).
5. Mean score of performing self-care about diet in primary school children was significantly greater than that of high school adolescents(P = 0.003).
6. There was no significant difference in performing self-care activities, self-care activities about diet, blood glucose control, and general care by gender, religion, duration of illness, experience of hospitalization, number of participation of diabetes mellitus camp, and family history of diabetes mellitus.
7. No significant difference was observed in performing self-care activities and self-care activities about diet, blood glucose control and general care by the level of knowledge about diabetes mellitus.
8. There was no significant difference in performing self-care activities, self-care activities about diet, blood glucose control, and general care by the degree of symptom experience.
These results suggest that the age is an important variable in self-care activities of diabetic children. Nursing intervention might be essential to reinforce the self-care activities for high school adolescents and to maintain the self-care activities for primary school children. And the content of existing diabetes mellitus camp program may be revised or added by the age in order to promote the practice of self-care activities of diabetic children.
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