Group Education Trial to Improve Transition for Parents of Adolescents With T1D (GETIT-Parent)

McGill University

Status: Active, not recruiting

Conditions: Diabetes Mellitus, Type 1; Glucose Metabolism Disorders; Diabetes Mellitus; Immune System Diseases; Metabolic Disease; Endocrine System Diseases; Autoimmune Diseases

Treatments: Behavioral: Group education sessions for parents plus usual diabetes care; Other: Usual diabetes care

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT05445284

2022-8592

Details and patient eligibility

About

The investigators will study if group education for parents of adolescents with type 1 diabetes (T1D) will improve the transition from adolescence to adulthood. The investigators aim to conduct a pilot randomized controlled trial (RCT) of parent group education sessions to assess the feasibility and refine the intervention to inform a full-scale multicenter RCT. The aims of the pilot are to estimate: 1. Recruitment rate, 2. Adherence rate, 3. Response rate, and 4. Retention rate. The aims for the future full-scale multicenter RCT are to assess the effect of parent group education sessions integrated into pediatric care, compared with usual care on self-management, hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c), adverse outcomes and validated measures during the transition from adolescence to adulthood. The investigators will conduct a parallel group, blinded (outcome assessors, data analysts), superiority pilot RCT of parents and their adolescents with T1D (14-16 years of age) followed at a university teaching hospital-based pediatric diabetes clinic in Montreal. Interventions will occur over 12-months. Follow-up will be to 18 months from enrollment.

Full description

Rationale. Adolescence is a challenging life stage that is complicated for those with type 1 diabetes (T1D) as they learn to take responsibility for their health. Parents face uncertainty of what constitutes appropriate involvement and express distress around the health consequences of transferring responsibility to their adolescent. We know little about how to provide transition care services to parents as they attempt to support their adolescents during the transition to adulthood. We are currently conducting a multicenter randomized controlled trial (RCT) evaluating patient-driven group education for adolescents with T1D. Parents have expressed a need for education on how to transition responsibility of diabetes care from parent to adolescent. The investigators propose to study if group education for parents of adolescents with T1D will improve the transition from adolescence to adulthood. The investigators will conduct a pilot RCT of parent group education sessions to assess the feasibility and refine the intervention for a full-scale multicenter RCT.

Aims. The aims of the pilot are to estimate: 1. Recruitment rate, 2. Adherence rate, 3. Response rate, and 4. Retention rate. Through semi-structured interviews with parents, we also aim to identify aspects of the intervention that require refinement for the future full-scale multicenter RCT (e.g. session content and format). To assess feasibility success, we propose the following criteria:1. Recruitment rate: At least 50% of approached parents/adolescents will agree to randomization; 2. Adherence rate: At least 80% of parents attend ≥3 group education sessions; 3. Response rate: At least 80% of parents and adolescents will complete all validated questionnaires; 4. Retention rate: At least 70% of parents and adolescents will complete the trial. The aims for the future full-scale multicenter RCT are to determine the impact of parent group education sessions, compared with usual care on self-management, HbA1c, number of T1D-related emergency department visits and hospitalizations, diabetes distress, family conflict, diabetes resilience and diabetes responsibility.

Methods. The investigators will conduct a parallel group, blinded (outcome assessors, data analysts), superiority pilot RCT of parents and their adolescents with T1D (14-16 years of age) followed at a university teaching hospital-based pediatric diabetes clinic in Montreal. Dyads of adolescents and one parent will be recruited over 12 months. Interventions will occur over 12-months. Follow-up will be to 18 months from enrollment. Allocation will be concealed with a 1:1 intervention to control ratio. Visits in the active arm will consist of a parent group education session plus usual diabetes care every 3 months. The parent group education session, facilitated by a diabetes social worker, will consist of a parent-driven, in-person/virtual discussion on topics relevant to adolescence and transition care. Control arm participants will have usual care with their diabetes care provider every 3 months. Pilot RCT results will inform modification of trial execution related to feasibility and intervention for full-scale multicenter RCT. Main outcome measures are descriptions of study feasibility parameters. Health-related outcomes as well as parent and adolescent reported outcomes, using validated self-administered questionnaires will also be collected at baseline, 6, 12 and 18 months. Parents will be interviewed at baseline and 18 months to explore parents' experiences with and perceptions of the accessibility, acceptance, and usefulness of parent group education content and format, using qualitative descriptive methodology. Analysis will be descriptive and baseline data will be summarized, separately for those in the active and control arms.

Enrollment: 34 patients

Sex: All

Ages: 14 to 16 years old

Volunteers: No Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• Parents and their adolescents, ages 14-16 years, with a diagnosis of T1D, of at least 6-months. Parent is defined as mother, father, or primary caregiver.
• Receiving diabetes care at a university teaching hospital-based pediatric diabetes clinic in Montreal: Montreal Children's Hospital (MCH)
• Participants must be fluent in English or French

Exclusion criteria

• Severe neurocognitive disabilities that may preclude parent's ability to participate in a group session
• Parents of adolescents participating in the Group Education Trial to Improve Transition in Type 1 Diabetes (GET-IT-T1D) for adolescents

Trial design

Primary purpose: Supportive Care

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Parallel Assignment

Masking: Single Blind

---

34 participants in 2 patient groups

Group education sessions for parents plus usual diabetes care

Experimental group

Description:

≥3 in-person/virtual one-hour group education sessions for parents plus usual diabetes care, every 3 months for 12 months and ≥3 "check-in" virtual 15-20 minute sessions in-between the group sessions. Each group session (3-8 parents per group) will be facilitated by a diabetes social worker and will consist of parent-driven discussions on topics relevant to adolescence and transition care. Each one-hour session will commence with an ice-breaker activity and then move to a parent-driven, facilitator-mediated discussion. The group session content will be guided by the needs of the participants; however, the facilitator will actively promote discussion on adolescent- and transition-related topics. The group discussion will end with participants setting goals for their next session.

Treatment:

Behavioral: Group education sessions for parents plus usual diabetes care

Usual diabetes care

Other group

Description:

Usual diabetes care, every 3 months for 12 months, which consists of visits with their diabetes care physician. In addition, as per usual care, individual sessions and meetings related to transition care with the diabetes social worker will be provided to parents, as needed.

Treatment:

Other: Usual diabetes care