18 Fear of hypoglycemia in parents of children with type 1 diabetes: psychometric properties of the Arabic version of the hypoglycemia fear survey for parents of young children

Background Up to date, we do not have an Arabic validated instrument that can assess the parents' fear of hypoglycemia. Thus, the aim of this study is to translate the existing English scale and examine the psychometric properties of the Hypoglycemia Fear Survey-Parent of young children (HFS-PYC) Arabic version. Aim of Study Assessing fear of hypoglycemia in parents of T1DM children can lead to the administration of interventions to reduce parental fear and hence improve the metabolic control of the child, and enhance research focused on improving outcomes of very young children with diabetes. Methods: This was a prospective cohort study. We included parents of children with T1DM aged from 1 to 15 years who are followed at King Saud University Medical City University Diabetes Center. The HFS-PYC Arabic version was tested among these parents. The scale was self-administered through the Redcap online platform. The glycemic control data for the children were obtained from the LibreView system. Results We included 150 caregivers who responded to the survey. The children's mean age was 11.2±3.7 years. The internal consistency of the HFS-PYC Arabic version was excellent with high reliability coefficient compared to the original scale. The behavior subscale displays lower internal consistency. We didn't find a significant association between FoH scores and HbA1c level, or an association between severe hypoglycemic episodes, number of glucose scans per day and FoH scores. We found a trend toward higher FHS-PYC score and using FGM. Conclusion(s) Our Arabic version of HFS-PYC has good reliability and good face validity. It can be used to measure the fear of hypoglycemia in parents of young, school age, and adolescents with T1DM, despite the validity of the behavior subscale is questionable, which needs further research related to the scale.