Pet Ownership and Glucose Control in Type 1 Diabetes

The University of Texas System (UT)

Status: Completed

Conditions: Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus

Treatments: Behavioral: Picture of a fish; Behavioral: Pet Fish

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT01733524

1R03HD071263-01

Details and patient eligibility

About

The investigators' long-term goal is to discover novel, inexpensive and feasible strategies to improve the management and well-being of youth with T1DM. The specific objective of this proposal is to quantify the impact of responsible pet ownership on the glycemic control and health related quality of life in youth with T1DM.

Full description

Type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) affects 151,000 children and adolescents in the United States. Youth with T1DM are at a high risk for multiple psychosocial co-morbidities including poor health related quality of life (HRQoL) which is linked to medication non-compliance and increased risk for diabetes-related complications. Any reduction in the psychosocial adjustment difficulties related to T1DM could improve the medical outcome of children with T1DM.

Current standards for diabetes management reflect the need to maintain glucose control within a normal range. However, numerous reports indicate that normalization of blood glucose levels is seldom attainable in children and adolescents. Family cohesion, positive coping strategies, younger age of onset, social support and adequate self-regulatory behavior are found to favorably influence glycemic control. One may conclude that the presence of a companion animal, capable of enhancing the positive factors named above, would augment the array of tools available for the successful management of chronic illnesses such as T1DM.

There is a lack of studies assessing the impact of pet ownership on the health and well-being of adolescents. The process of caring for, loving and being loved by a companion animal could offer direct and/or indirect benefits to the HRQoL in children with T1DM. To the investigators' knowledge, there are no studies examining the impact of pet ownership on glycemic control and HRQoL in youth with T1DM.

Enrollment: 29 patients

Sex: All

Ages: 10 to 17 years old

Volunteers: No Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• English-speaking patients
• 10 to 18 years
• diagnosed with type 1 diabetes for at least 12 months
• poor diabetes control as defined by having a hemoglobin A1c value > 8%

Exclusion criteria

• type 2 diabetes
• developmental delay
• current participation in another study that may impact glycemic control

Trial design

Primary purpose: Supportive Care

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Parallel Assignment

Masking: None (Open label)

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29 participants in 2 patient groups

Picture of a fish

Sham Comparator group

Description:

Participants will receive a picture of a betta fish.

Treatment:

Behavioral: Picture of a fish

Pet fish

Active Comparator group

Description:

Participants will receive a betta fish and the supplies to care for the fish for a one year time period.

Treatment:

Behavioral: Pet Fish