Association Between Perceived Health Care Provider Support and Satisfaction with Insulin Pumps in Children with Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus: Opportunities for Pharmacists

Purpose: The purpose of this pilot study was to describe parents’ perceived healthcare provider support for integrating technology, satisfaction with insulin pump use in their child with T1DM, and the relationship between parents’ perceived healthcare provider support and satisfaction with insulin pump use. Methods: A cross-sectional, correlational design was used to collect data for the present study. The study was conducted through an Internet survey among Mid-South parents who have a child with T1DM, 18 years old or younger using an insulin pump and/or continuous glucose monitoring (CGM). Frequencies, descriptive statistics, and correlation coefficients were calculated. Results: Most of the parents surveyed used an endocrinologist/pediatric endocrinologist as their primary diabetes healthcare provider and considered three to four healthcare professionals as part of the diabetes healthcare team who helped them utilize insulin pumps and advanced technologies. Parents (23.4%) indicated a pharmacist was part of the healthcare team who helped them utilize technology. Parents appeared to perceive support for using insulin pumps; however, there is room for improvement. The more perceived support for integrating technology, the more satisfied the parents were with using insulin pumps (r=0.431, p=0.005). Conclusions: Results from this study suggest that parents and children need continued education, support and training to integrate insulin pumps into diabetes self-management. As more patients attempt to adopt insulin pumps and other advanced technologies, it will be important for pharmacists to support the adoption and integration of these technologies and be knowledgeable and helpful if asked about technology-related challenges. Type: Student Projec