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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Clin. Diabetes Healthc.
Sec. Diabetes Clinical Epidemiology
Volume 5 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fcdhc.2024.1445972
This article is part of the Research Topic Perceptions of Diabetes Across Lifespan View all articles

Adjustment Experiences of Adolescents Living with Well-controlled Type 1 Diabetes Using Closed-loop Technology

Provisionally accepted
Sylvia Kruger Sylvia Kruger 1*Elmari Deacon Elmari Deacon 2Esme van Rensburg Esme van Rensburg 1David Segal David Segal 2
  • 1 North West University, Potchefstroom, South Africa
  • 2 Optentia, North West University, Vanderbijlpark, South Africa

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Aim: This study aimed to obtain an in-depth understanding of the experiences of adolescents with well-controlled type 1 diabetes who were adjusting to closed-loop technology.Method: Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) was conducted. Five participants (aged 15-18) were recruited from the Centre for Diabetes and Endocrinology in Parktown, South Africa, to participate in semi-structured interviews about their experiences of adjusting to closed-loop technology.Results: Five superordinate themes emerged: (1) learning to trust the technology, (2) making diabetes visible, (3) building a relationship with diabetes, (4) empowering support networks, and ( 5) transformative positive outcomes. The findings demonstrate that closed-loop technology positively impacts the adjustment to living with type 1 diabetes. However, as highlighted by all participants, the individual's engagement and management are crucial. Based on the adolescents' experiences, interventions should focus on psychological factors.

    Keywords: adjustment, adolescents, Closed-loop technology, interpretative phenomenological analysis, type 1 diabetes

    Received: 08 Jun 2024; Accepted: 04 Oct 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Kruger, Deacon, van Rensburg and Segal. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Sylvia Kruger, North West University, Potchefstroom, South Africa

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