Higher Social Media Use Associated with Higher Hemoglobin A1C and Greater Diabetes Distress in Young Adults with Type 1 Diabetes

Résumé fourni par la source

Objective: Young adults (YA) with type 1 diabetes struggle with glycemic control and diabetes distress. As social media (SM) is highly used by YA, we explored how YA with diabetes use SM, identifying associations with demographics and diabetes measures. Research Design and Methods: We developed and emailed a survey to YA seen in clinic, aged 18–25 years with diabetes ≥1 year, querying SM, demographic, and diabetes characteristics, as well as diabetes distress (Problem Areas in Diabetes [PAID]). We divided the sample into lower (<3 h/day) and higher (3+ h/day) SM use and compared characteristics using t-tests and Chi-square. Results: Of 1176 YA approached, 385 (33%) provided evaluable responses. Mean age was 22 years; 61% were female and 86% non-Hispanic white (NHW); 83% used a pump and 96% used a continuous glucose monitor. Mean HbA1c was 7.4% ± 1.3% (56.3 ± 14.2 mmol/mol). Almost all (98%) used SM; Instagram (56%) and TikTok (24%) were most popular. The lower (65%) and higher (35%) SM use groups differed by age (23 vs. 22.3 years, P = 0.02), race/ethnicity (90 vs 78.5% NHW, P = 0.002), HbA1c (7.3% vs. 7.6% [55.2 vs. 59.6], P = 0.007), and PAID score (24.5 vs. 29.7, P = 0.02), respectively. Diabetes content represented <12% of overall SM engagement, while 27.4% of sample reported SM as their primary source of diabetes technology knowledge. Conclusions: YA with higher SM use were younger, had higher HbA1c, reported more diabetes distress, and were less likely to be NHW. Engagement with diabetes SM was relatively low, representing a potential opportunity to disseminate education and support to YA with diabetes.

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