Psychosocial Correlates of Health Care Utilization for Children and Adolescents With Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus

Our objective was to examine the relation of self-reported depressive symptomatology to health care utilization (HCU) in families with a child with Type 1 diabetes mellitus (DM1). Data were obtained from a community sample (N = 88) being followed in 2 private outpatient diabetes clinics. Children and adolescents completed measures of depressive symptomatology. Mothers provided demographic information and completed measures of HCU and depressive symptomatology. Physicians provided measures of glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c) and illness severity. Hierarchical regression analyses indicated that higher levels of child depressive symptomatology were associated with increased HCU for children with DM1 above and beyond demographic and illness variables. However, no significant relationship was found between either adolescent or maternal depressive symptomatology and HCU. These findings suggest self-reported depressive symptomatology in children with DM1 is a salient correlate of HCU even after statistically controlling for the influence of demographics and illness parameters. The possibility that children with DM1 with symptoms of depression may have higher utilization of health services supports the need to target psychosocial variables for intervention.