Clinical Research Directory

The diabEAT Study: Insulin dElivery Technologies And eaTing Behaviours in People With Type 1 Diabetes

Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune health condition that requires daily injections of insulin. Insulin allows the body to use energy from carbohydrates in food. Disordered eating behaviours, like restricting food intake to lose body weight, are more common in women and people with type 1 diabetes, compared to those without because they must practice carbohydrate counting. Carbohydrate counting means identifying, measuring, and planning carbohydrate intake to match insulin dosage. New technologies, such as automated insulin delivery (AID) systems adjust insulin delivery in a blood sugar responsive manner. AID is rapidly replacing conventional insulin delivery like injections or non-automated insulin pumps since it reduces management burden and improves blood sugar levels. It is not known if AID reduces food management and disordered eating behaviours. This study aims to: 1. investigate the relationship between AID and eating behaviours according to gender for youth (12 to 17 years), and adults (18 years and older). 2. Determine the limit of carbohydrate counting inaccuracy to maintain stable blood sugar levels according to insulin delivery method (AID, injections, or pumps). It is hypothesized that those who use AID will have lower disordered eating behaviours and will maintain stable blood sugar levels while allowing for higher carbohydrate counting inaccuracy. This will be a cross-sectional cohort study of people with type 1 diabetes who are 12 years of age or over. Participants will be recruited through the BETTER registry and social medias across Canada. This research is needed to improve nutrition guidelines for type 1 diabetes in the context of new technologies like AID. Evidence from this study may reduce food management burden, lower the risk of disordered eating behaviours, and prevent eating disorders and medical complications.

Injection Ports vs Single-Use Needles for Insulin in Pregnancy: Effects on Adherence and Satisfaction

This study wants to find out if using an injection port to give insulin during pregnancy helps people take their insulin more regularly and feel better about their care. When someone has diabetes during pregnancy, it's very important to keep their blood sugar levels in a healthy range. This usually means checking blood sugar often and giving insulin through shots. But giving many shots each day can be hard and uncomfortable. An injection port is a small device placed on the skin that lets patients give insulin through the same spot without poking themselves each time. This may make taking insulin easier and less painful. Feeling comfortable with how insulin is given may help people stick to their treatment plan and have better health during pregnancy. Injection ports have already helped other patients, including pregnant people who needed other medications, but they haven't been studied for insulin use during pregnancy. This study will look at how pregnant patients with diabetes feel about using injection ports for insulin.

Investigation of the Effect of "Curtain" Use on Self-Injection, Testing Fear and Pain in Patients With Type 2 Diabetes

Diabetes is a global problem for the world and negatively affects life (1). The most important reasons for ineffective diabetes and insulin treatment include fear of insulin side effects, fear of insulin injection, social embarrassment from administering insulin, fear of hypoglycemia and/or hyperglycemia (2). A large portion of diabetic individuals experience these fears, and some of these patients cope with these fears and integrate them into their daily lifestyles. However, some diabetic patients may be ineffective in coping with these fears (3). This situation creates negativities in the individual's success in treatment and compliance with treatment (3). Diverting attention is one of the non-pharmacological methods used in pain control. Diverting attention is one of the most preferred methods in reducing the pain experienced by patients during diagnosis and treatment procedures. It is a method that allows patients to control and reduce their symptoms by focusing their attention on a different point (4). In this study, the use of a distracting curtain during self-injection in individuals with Type 2 diabetes will be examined in order to examine the effect of pain and fear.