Abstract
Background
Diabetes mellitus is one of the most common chronic illnesses in children with multiple psychosocial, economical and developmental effects. Common psychiatric disorders including depression, anxiety, psychological distress, and eating disorders are more common in diabetic patients than their counters without diabetes. The main objective of our study was to assess Prevalence and associated factors of psychiatric problems in children aged 6–18 years with type 1 diabetes mellitus in Gondar, Ethiopia.
Methods
An institution-based prospective cross-sectional study was conducted among 206 children aged 6–18 years with type-1 diabetes mellitus in the University of Gondar comprehensive and specialized hospital (UoGCSH) chronic illness clinic over three months period. Data was collected using a structured questioner by trained general practitioner. Convenient sampling technique was applied and Participants were included taken sequentially until the sample size was achieved. Both bivariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses were used for Model fitness and the strength of association was determined using an OR, p value of < 0.05 and 95% CI.
Results
The prevalence of psychiatric problems was 11.65%and those children living with only either of the parent(AOR = 6.94,95%CI :1.47–32.83), living with other relatives (AOR = 21.49, 95% CI:3.54-130.58), family size > 5 people (AOR = 0.24, 95%CI :0.06–0.97),father attend formal education (AOR = 0.16, 95%CI : 0.03–0.97), patients having good glycemic control (AOR = 0.16, 95% CI : 0.04–0.61)and patients having family history of diabetes mellitus(AOR = 5.07,95%CI:1.20-21.52) were found to have significant association with the occurrence of psychiatric problems in diabetic children.
Conclusion
The prevalence of psychiatric problems in diabetic children were significantly high and children living with single parent, paternal educational status, glycemic control, family history of diabetes, and family size were found to have a significant association with the occurrence of the psychiatric problem in diabetic children.