November 11, 2024, T1DX‐QI Learning Session, <i>Journal of Diabetes</i> Abstracts

Background: Euglycemia for pediatric type 1 diabetes (T1D) patients declines following transfer to adult care.Insufficient mastery of diabetes self-management is a modifiable contributor to the decline.Best-practice recommendations are lacking on ages to teach diabetes topics and skills.We aim to characterize perspectives of diabetes providers on diabetes self-management teaching to guide future interventions and improve diabetes selfmanagement education.Methods: We conducted a written survey of medical professionals involved in T1D care in our pediatric institution.We surveyed their perspectives on ages at which patients should master 22 diabetes topics and 18 skills and their ratings of their comfort and consistency in teaching.Results: Twenty-three participants (17 physicians, 1 nurse practitioner, and 5 certified diabetes educators) completed surveys.The mean ideal age of transition reported was 19.6 years old.Topics including basic explanation of diabetes, knowledge of hyperglycemia and hypoglycemia symptoms, and glucometer use could be mastered by younger patients (ages 6-10), whereas topics of pregnancy, scheduling appointments, and insurance could be mastered at ages 17-18.Participants reported being comfortable or very comfortable with almost all topics.Most participants indicated that clear guidelines (74%) on ages to address topics and a system (87%) for tracking mastery would increase comfort level in providing education.Conclusions: Data highlight a need for guidance on ages at which topics are taught and methods for tracking patient mastery.Future interventions will incorporate knowledge gained for building guidance and tracking mechanisms for teaching.