Flexible Lifestyles for Youth (FL3X) behavioural intervention for at-risk adolescents with Type 1 diabetes: a randomized pilot and feasibility trial.

Department of Nutrition and Department of Medicine, University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA. Division of Pulmonary Medicine and Anderson Center for Health Systems Excellence, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, OH, USA. School of Nursing, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA. Division of Pediatric Endocrinology, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, OH, USA. Children's Endocrinology and Diabetes, WakeMed Children's Hospital, Raleigh, NC, USA. Department of Nutrition, University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA. Barbara Davis Center for Diabetes, University of Colorado School of Medicine, Aurora, CO, USA. Northwest Lipid Metabolism and Diabetes Research Laboratories, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA. Department of Research, Nemours Children's Clinic, Jacksonville, FL, USA.

Diabetic medicine : a journal of the British Diabetic Association. 2015;(6):829-33

Abstract

AIM: To determine the potential effect sizes for the Flexible Lifestyle for Youth (FL3X) behavioural intervention to improve glycaemic control (HbA(1c)) and quality of life for at-risk adolescents with Type 1 diabetes. METHODS Participants [n = 61; age 12-16 years, HbA(1c) 64-119 mmol/mol (8-13%)] were randomized to FL3X (minimum three sessions) or usual care. Effect sizes (Cohen's d), comparing the mean difference between the groups, were calculated. RESULTS Study retention (95%), attendance at intervention sessions (87% attended all three sessions) and acceptability were high (100% of the adolescents and 91% of parents would recommend the programme to others). Overall, 41% of participants in the intervention group and 24% of participants in the control group were 'responders' [HbA(1c) decreased by > 6 mmol/mol (0.5%); d = 0.37]. HbA(1c) levels decreased (d = -0.18), diabetes-specific quality of life increased (d = 0.29), but generic quality of life decreased (d = -0.23) in the intervention compared with the control group. CONCLUSIONS The FL3X programme merits further study for improving HbA(1c) and diabetes-specific quality of life in adolescents with Type 1 diabetes. (Clinical trials registry no.: NCT01286350).

Methodological quality

Metadata

MeSH terms : Behavior Therapy