Anxiety, pediatric type 1 diabetes and COVID-19 lockdown

Abstract

We would like to share ideas on the publication “Increased anxiety symptoms in pediatric type 1 diabetes (T1D) during the acute phase of COVID-19 lockdown [1]”. This study provides a picture of mental well-being in a heterogeneous community of patients with T1D in the acute phase of a crisis, and highlights the need for fast, accurate medical information and allocation of medical services for the juvenile T1D population, according to Wade et al. [1]. COVID-19 pandemic and lockdown, we agree, can have an impact on patients. The current study is a telephone survey with potential reliability issues. In most circumstances, the survey respondent is also the child’s primary caretaker. As a result, the observed anxiety does not match the perspective of T1D patients. Furthermore, the study’s control groupmay not be a good control group. The average age of the study (T1D) and control groups differs significantly (13.8 years vs. 5.3 years). There could be a bias, and a too young control group could have a different level of worry than the T1D group, which is often a teenager. Finally, in a pediatric T1D situation, we must account for the impact of concurrent medical conditions. In a prior study, a pediatric patient with an obesity condition was found to be more prone to anxiety [2].