Intervention to reduce hypoglycemia fear in parents of young kids using video-based telehealth (REDCHiP)

Objective To evaluate the efficacy of a new video-based telehealth intervention to reduce hypoglycemia fear in parents of young children with type 1 diabetes. Methods We randomized 42 parents to either immediate treatment (reducing emotional distress for childhood hypoglycemia in parents, REDCHiP; n = 22) or a waitlist control (WAITLIST; n = 21) condition. REDCHiP parents completed a 10-session video-based telehealth intervention, while WAITLIST parents continued in usual care. After 14-weeks, WAITLIST parents completed the telehealth treatment. We examined for between group changes in parental hypoglycemia fear and parenting stress (n = 18 per condition), 3-month maintenance of treatment effects for parents randomized to REDCHiP (n = 15), and pre-post changes for the entire sample (n = 36). Results Mostly mothers participated (97.6%). They reported a mean age of 35.2 +/- 5.0 years at pre-treatment. Children were 4.4 +/- 1.4 years old and 59.5% boys. Between group comparisons showed a significant reduction in hypoglycemia fear (P = .04) and a trend toward reduction in parenting stress-frequency (P = .092) for REDCHiP parents compared to WAITLIST parents. After the three-month maintenance period, REDCHiP parents reported significant reductions in hypoglycemia fear, parenting stress-frequency, and parenting stress-difficulty (P's < .01) compared to pre-treatment. When all parents received the telehealth treatment, we also observed significant reductions in hypoglycemia fear, parenting stress-frequency, and parenting stress-difficulty (P's < .001), and sensitivity analyses revealed a significant reduction in child glycated hemoglobin for children who entered the treatment above target (P < .05). Conclusion Our new video-based telehealth intervention appears to reduce hypoglycemia fear and parenting stress and may help parents of very young children with T1D to better achieve optimal child glycemic control when children are above target.