Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder Medication Treatment Impact on Response to Growth Hormone Therapy: Results from the ANSWER Program, a Non-Interventional Study.

OBJECTIVE: To examine whether attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) stimulant medication modified the linear growth response to growth hormone (GH) treatment in children enrolled in the American Norditropin Studies: Web-Enabled Research Program. STUDY DESIGN: Short, GH treatment-naive children with or without GH deficiency (GHD) received GH therapy. A subset also received ADHD stimulant medication (n = 1190), and others did not (n = 7230). Linear mixed models (adjusted means) examined height SDS (HSDS) and body mass index (BMI) SDS from baseline through year 4. Analyses were repeated with ADHD groups matched for baseline age, height, weight, BMI, and sex. Groups with and without GHD were compared between ADHD groups. RESULTS: Adjusted change in HSDS for the group receiving ADHD stimulant medication was slightly lower than that for patients not receiving stimulant medication at years 1 to 4 (P < .05). However, adjusted change in HSDS was similar between children receiving and not receiving ADHD stimulant medication when matched for baseline measurements. At year 4, 86.7% of patients receiving ADHD stimulant medication, 86.8% of total patients not receiving ADHD stimulant medication, and 84.6% of matched group patients not receiving ADHD stimulant medication achieved HSDS >-2. Year 4 adjusted change in BMI SDS was greater in the patients receiving ADHD stimulant medication compared with both groups not receiving ADHD stimulant medication (P < .05). Patients with GHD showed comparable differences in adjusted change in BMI SDS among the ADHD groups at year 4, whereas patients without GHD showed no significant differences. CONCLUSIONS: ADHD medication did not affect the linear growth response of children treated with GH when those receiving or not receiving ADHD stimulant medication were matched for baseline measurements. Underlying reasons for the observed greater increase in BMI in patients with GHD concomitantly treated with ADHD medication remain to be elucidated. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT01009905.

Predicting Health Resilience in Pediatric Type 1 Diabetes: A Test of the Resilience Model Framework.

OBJECTIVES: This research examined whether individual and family-level factors during the transition from late childhood to early adolescence protected individuals from an increased risk of poor glycemic control across time, which is a predictor of future diabetes-related complications (i.e., health resilience). METHODS: This longitudinal, multisite study included 239 patients with type 1 diabetes and their caregivers. Glycemic control was based on hemoglobin A1c. Individual and family-level factors included: demographic variables, youth behavioral regulation, adherence (frequency of blood glucose monitoring), diabetes self-management, level of parental support for diabetes autonomy, level of youth mastery and responsibility for diabetes management, and diabetes-related family conflict. RESULTS: Longitudinal mixed-effects logistic regression indicated that testing blood glucose more frequently, better self-management, and less diabetes-related family conflict were indicators of health resilience. CONCLUSIONS: Multiple individual and family-level factors predicted risk for future health complications. Future research should develop interventions targeting specific individual and family-level factors to sustain glycemic control within recommended targets, which reduces the risk of developing future health complications during the transition to adolescence and adulthood.

Changes in executive functioning and self-management in adolescents with type 1 diabetes: a growth curve analysis.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the relation of changes in executive functioning to changes in diabetes self-management in a 2-year prospective study of a sample of youth aged 9-11 years at baseline (n = 239) with type 1 diabetes and their maternal caregivers. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: Youth and maternal caregivers completed the Diabetes Self-Management Profile (DSMP) at baseline, 12 months, and 24 months. Maternal caregivers completed the Behavioral Rating Inventory of Executive Functioning (BRIEF) at the same time points to assess global executive functioning, and the domains of behavioral regulation and metacognition. RESULTS: Youth reported self-management decreased over time (p < .01) while behavioral regulation (e.g., the child's ability to shift cognitive set and moderate emotions and behaviors via emotional control) increased (p < .05). Changes in behavioral regulation significantly predicted rate of change in youth-reported self-management (p < .01). Global executive functioning and metacognition (e.g., the child's ability to monitor, initiate, plan, organize, and sustain future-oriented problem solving and working memory) did not change over time and did not predict changes in self-management. Moreover, executive functioning and self-management did not predict changes in HbA1c. CONCLUSIONS: Positive changes in behavioral regulation may enhance self-management of type 1 diabetes during the transition to adolescence.

Identification of self-management patterns in pediatric type 1 diabetes using cluster analysis.

OBJECTIVES: This study identified three distinct patterns of self-management groups for a sample of 239 youth (9-11 years) with type 1 diabetes and their maternal and paternal caregivers, and assessed their relationship to glycemic control (HbA1c). METHODS: Youth and their maternal and paternal caregivers were administered the diabetes self-management profile (DSMP) to assess self-management. Glycemic control was based on hemoglobin A1c. RESULTS: Two-step cluster analysis identified three different self-management groups based on youth, maternal, and paternal reports. Analysis of variance indicated that the pattern of less optimal diabetes self-management was associated with worse glycemic control. CONCLUSION: Our results objectively describe differences in patterns of self-management in youth with type 1 diabetes, that relate to glycemic control. Interventions based on these specific patterns of self-management may improve diabetes management and enhance glycemic control in children and adolescents with type 1 diabetes.

Growth hormone treatment and pseudotumor cerebri: coincidence or close relationship?

Pseudotumor cerebri (PTC) is an uncommon disorder in the pediatric population. It is not a benign condition. It can cause permanent vision loss. The most recently recognized risk factor for this disorder is recombinant human growth hormone (GH) therapy. Data from Genentech's National Cooperative Growth Study (NCGS), a postmarketing surveillance program, are analyzed to examine the relationship between GH therapy and PTC. Several areas are addressed, including plausibility, probability, clinical and laboratory presentations, management, clinical outcome, present state of knowledge, and future recommendations.

Identification and prediction of group-based glycemic control trajectories during the transition to adolescence.

OBJECTIVE: To identify trajectories of glycemic control over a period of 3 years in a pediatric sample of youth diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes transitioning to adolescence. A second aim was to examine a set of modifiable individual and family level baseline predictors of glycemic control group membership. METHODS: This multisite, prospective study included 239 children and adolescents (ages 9-11 years at baseline) diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes and their caregivers. Glycemic control was based on hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) collected at 6-month intervals over a period of 3 years. Predictors of glycemic control membership included baseline global executive functioning, diabetes self-management, diabetes-specific family conflict, blood glucose monitoring frequency, and relevant individual and family level covariates. RESULTS: Group-based trajectory analyses were used to describe patterns of glycemic control from baseline to 36 months and 3 trajectories were identified: low risk (42.9%), elevated risk (44.6%), and high risk (12.1%) subgroups. Baseline maternal-reported family conflict, blood glucose monitoring frequency, and gender were significant predictors of glycemic control group membership. Higher levels of baseline family conflict, lower frequency of blood glucose monitoring, and female gender were associated with elevated and high-risk group membership. CONCLUSIONS: These findings underscore the importance of examining trajectories of HbA1c across time. These results suggest that problematic trajectories of glycemic control are evident during the transition to adolescence. Furthermore, there are modifiable individual and family level characteristics that predict group membership and hence could be targeted in interventions to ensure adequate glycemic control is maintained over time and that risks for diabetes-related complications are reduced.

Patterns of self-management in pediatric type 1 diabetes predict level of glycemic control 2 years later.

OBJECTIVE: To determine if 3 distinct self-management patterns (i.e., maladaptive, moderate/mixed, and adaptive) observed at baseline, 1 year, and 2 years in a sample of youth with type 1 diabetes and their caregivers predicted mean differences in adolescent's subsequent glycemic control. METHODS: This study is a descriptive, multisite, prospective study that examined a sample of youth diagnosed with type 1 diabetes (ages 9-11 years at baseline). Youth and their maternal and paternal caregivers provided information about the youth's self-management patterns at baseline, 1 year, and 2 years using the Diabetes Self-Management Profile structured interview. Glycemic control (hemoglobin A1c: HbA1c) was examined at baseline and 6, 12, 18, and 24 months. RESULTS: Three distinct self-management patterns were observed at 1 year and 2 years, which were conceptually consistent with previously reported baseline self-management patterns. Youth identified by their maternal caregivers as having adaptive self-management patterns at baseline had better glycemic control across 2 years compared with those in the maladaptive and mixed self-management groups. Similarly, maternal reports suggested that youth with less adaptive self-management patterns generally had worse glycemic control over time and HbA1c values above the American Diabetes Association recommendations. Youth and paternal caregiver reports yielded more variable findings. CONCLUSIONS: Findings underscore the stability of self-management patterns in pediatric type 1 diabetes and the need for preventive interventions that are tailored to specific patterns of self-management associated with risk for problematic glycemic control.

Changes in treatment adherence and glycemic control during the transition to adolescence in type 1 diabetes.

OBJECTIVE: To test models of unidirectional and bidirectional change between treatment adherence and glycemic control in youth with type 1 diabetes. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: We conducted a 2-year longitudinal, multisite study of 225 youth with type 1 diabetes recruited at the cusp of adolescence (aged 9-11 years) to describe the mutual influences of glycemic control as measured by HbA(1c) and treatment adherence as measured by blood glucose monitoring frequency (BGMF) during the transition to adolescence. RESULTS: HbA(1c) increased from 8.2 to 8.6% (P < 0.001) and BGMF decreased from 4.9 to 4.5 checks per day (P < 0.02) during the 2-year period. Changes in the BGMF slope predicted changes in HbA(1c). A change (increase) in HbA(1c) was associated with a change (decrease) in BGMF of 1.26 (P < 0.001) after controlling for covariates. CONCLUSIONS: The magnitude of the effect of declining treatment adherence (BGMF) on glycemic control in young adolescents may be even greater than declines observed among older adolescents. BGMF offers a powerful tool for targeted management of glycemic control for type 1 diabetes during the critical transition to adolescence.

Peer and family support in children and adolescents with type 1 diabetes.

OBJECTIVE: To examine social support and peer and family involvement in relation to diabetes management within a developmental context. METHODS: Sixty-eight youths ages 8 to 17 diagnosed with type 1 diabetes participated. This study represents the phase 1 data from a multisystemic, home-based intervention. Data included parent and youth report of disease management and conflict, youth-reported perceptions of support, peer participation in the intervention, and HbA1c. RESULTS: Adolescents perceived greater diabetes-related peer support than did school-age children. Perceived peer and family support were not correlated with metabolic control. Peer participation in the intervention was correlated with metabolic control. CONCLUSIONS: There is a developmental shift in perceptions of peer support. Increased perceptions of peer and family support overall may not result in improved metabolic control. Social support interventions should focus on the types of support that are most highly associated with positive health outcomes.