Reliability of the Diabetes Fear of Injecting and Self-Testing Questionnaire in Pediatric Patients With Type 1 Diabetes

Abstract

The Diabetes Fear of Injecting and Self-Testing Questionnaire (D-FISQ) has been validated in the adult population (1–4), but there is no reliable tool to assess needle fear in the pediatric population with type 1 diabetes. Our objectives were to demonstrate the reliability of the D-FISQ in the pediatric type 1 diabetic population, to evaluate the prevalence of needle fear, and to determine the ability of medical care providers to identify needle fear. Patients aged 2–21 years with type 1 diabetes were eligible to participate if they had a diabetes duration of >1 month, took insulin by injection, and were English speaking. Exclusion criteria included being a ward of the state, using continuous subcutaneous insulin infusion therapy, and not having a parent/legal guardian present. Potential subjects were approached by study personnel at regularly scheduled clinic visits, and consent was obtained. The study was approved by the institutional review board. The D-FISQ was administered to each subject and his/her parent or guardian. The D-FISQ is a 30-item self-report questionnaire consisting of two subscales that measure fear of self-injecting (FSI) and fear of self-testing (FST), the latter measuring fear of blood glucose testing (1). The D-FISQ was administered to each parent and each child as follows. If the child self-administered his/her own injections and/or …