Thesis

Exploring the views of children and adolescents with type 1 diabetes in using activity trackers to help manage their condition

Creator
Rights statement
Awarding institution
  • University of Strathclyde
Date of award
  • 2024
Thesis identifier
  • T17083
Person Identifier (Local)
  • 202281589
Qualification Level
Qualification Name
Department, School or Faculty
Abstract
  • Introduction: Twenty-four-hour movement behaviours (physical activity, sedentary behaviour, and sleep) play an important role in the health and development of young people. These behaviours also impact on the management of Type 1 Diabetes (T1D) and activity trackers may be able to help young people with T1D in managing their 24-hour movement behaviours and diabetes. However, currently few studies have aimed to explore the views of children and adolescents with T1D on using activity trackers to help manage their condition. In line with this, the aim of this mixed-methods research was to explore the views of children and adolescents with T1D in using activity trackers to help manage their condition. Methods: Five participants diagnosed with T1D and aged between 11-18 were recruited for this study via social media and word of mouth. Participants were asked to wear an Actigraph GT3X+ accelerometer for 14 consecutive days and following this activity profiles/visualisations were created for each participant. Following the 14-day period, interviews then took place over Zoom where participants were shown their 24-hour movement behaviour patterns in the form of visualisations (graphs) as well as being asked to comment on their data and give their views of using accelerometers to track 24-hour movement behaviours. Results: Interviews were coded, and three themes were identified along with several subthemes. 80% of participants in the study did not meet recommended guidelines for any of the 24-hour movement behaviours examined in this study. Participants stated in the interviews that if they were able to view their 24-hour movement behaviours and their blood glucose levels on the same graph then this would be more useful than the visuals used in this study. Conclusion: The findings from this study suggest that children and adolescents with T1D believe that activity trackers are a useful method of collecting 24-hour movement behaviour data. However, it was suggested that they would prefer an activity tracker that could collect data on blood glucose levels and 24-hour movement behaviour combined. In addition, participants in this study stated that when sharing visualisations to participants in similar research in the future, researchers should attempt to create visualisations in which participants can view their hour-by-hour breakdown of each variable on a graph as this could help those with T1D manage their blood glucose levels more efficiently.
Advisor / supervisor
  • Janssen, Xanne
  • Kirk, Alison
Resource Type
DOI
Embargo Note
  • This thesis is restricted to Strathclyde users only.

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