Geneva emotion wheel
With the aim of strengthening educational support for children and their families using a CLC system (Tandem t:slim X2 (San Diego, CA) with the Control-IQ algorithm), a three-day vEC was organized from 6 to 8 November 2020, 13–30 days after users had upgraded from Basal-IQ to Control-IQ (1). Informed consent was signed by each participants’ parents. The study was approved by the coordinating center Ethical Committee (ASST Cremona) and conducted according to the Declaration of Helsinki. Nineteen Italian pediatric diabetes centers participated in this prospective, multicenter clinical study, as previously described (1). As a secondary outcome, we also evaluated glycemic metrics six months after the vEC. Building on this study, here we aimed of to evaluate, using colors, the emotional impact of a virtual educational camp (vEC) in children and adolescents with type 1 diabetes using a CLC system with Control-IQ over six months of follow-up. We previously evaluated the effectiveness of a closed-loop control (CLC) system with the Control-IQ algorithm (1). Given that children in particular can find it difficult to describe feelings, emotions can be associated with colors in children and in front of a computer screen (10). Indeed, insulin pumps led to improvements in diabetes-specific emotional distress (8, 9). While no study has evaluated the effects of technology on emotions during or after an educational camp, the psychological impact of technology on children and adolescents with type 1 diabetes and their parents has been evaluated (4–7). Defining and comprehensively measuring emotions can be challenging, but camps nevertheless represent an important setting for developing social and emotional learning skills (3). Improving diabetes management is therefore an important component of mitigating against these negative feelings and emotions (2,3). This state is linked with fewer self-care behaviors, non-optimal glycemic control, and lower quality of life in subjects with type 1 diabetes. Moreover, the literature describes diabetes distress as an affective condition associated with an individual’s frustrations, worries, and concerns about living with diabetes. It is well known that emotions, especially negative emotions, can influence glucose trends in everyday life.
Since negative emotions such as anger, frustration, hopelessness, fear, guilt, and shame are very common in people with diabetes, it is important to evaluate the impact of education on participants’ emotions. Educational camps, even if run virtually, represent a solid educational and emotional experience for children and adolescents with type 1 diabetes (1). Education maximizes the benefits of new diabetes technology.