Endocrine Abstracts

Introduction: The University Hospital Dorset paediatric diabetes service runs a diabetes camp for children and young people (CYP) with type 1 diabetes (T1D). Peer support, sharing experiences and reducing isolation of living with diabetes are among the primary goals of the camp. CYP with T1D face specific challenges in maintaining glycaemic control and developing self-management skills. Diabetes camps provide supervised social settings that could promote effective self-management of T1D. We aim to evaluate the short-term impact of diabetes camp on glycaemic control of children with T1D.

Method: Data was collected retrospectively as part of the routine service evaluation using continuous glucose monitoring data from 37 individuals with a diagnosis of T1D between the ages of 8 and 16. Change in Time in Range (TIR) two weeks prior and 2 weeks from the start of 3-day residential camp was the primary outcome. Time Above Range (TAR), Time Below Range (TBR), and average glucose levels were also collected. Paired t-tests were utilized for inferential analysis, while histograms and Q-Q plots were used to examine the data for normality in Microsoft excel.

Results: The mean TIR before and after the camp was 54% and 53.13%, respectively. A paired t-test was used, and the resulting p-value was 0.53. This implies that TIR did not significantly change before or after. However, the post-camp TIR increased for 19 individuals and decreased for 16. For two participants, the post-camp TIR stayed constant.

Discussion: These results suggest that although diabetes camps may offer peer support and psychosocial benefits, in this case there were no short-term improvement in glycaemic control. This diabetes camp did not include any structured diabetes aspect. Further short and long-term data on wellbeing and diabetes distress in relation to diabetes camps in children with T1D would allow further delineation of their potential benefits.