Children with type 1 diabetes mellitus: the experience of disease.

OBJECTIVE

To identify the main challenges faced by children with type 1 diabetes mellitus and describe their coping strategies.

METHOD: Qualitative study conducted with a semi-structured interview with children aged 8 to 11 with type 1 diabetes mellitus diagnosis who received care in the outpatient clinic of a university hospital in the state of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The results have been analyzed and categorized as per thematic analysis.

RESULTS

Five children have participated. The reports have emerged from the systematization of the qualitative data, in a process of apprehending meaning from statements of children and adolescents, which led to the category "Living with diabetes", including two subcategories: "Challenges to disease coping" and "Family participation and support in the disease process".

CONCLUSION

The process of disease coping is observed to occur differently for each child. However, family participation and support, as well as communication with health professionals, are fundamental in this process.