Endocrine Abstracts

Background: It has been proved that calculating the accurate amount of carbohydrate intake and good compliance in carb counting play a major role in in diabetes management.

Method: All patients who came to diabetes clinic at Hinchingbrooke Hospital in one-month duration were requested to complete the designed questionnaires anonymously and 17 patients/carers returned the results to the diabetes secretary. We asked about the methods they were using for carb counting, the frequency of carb counting at home and at school, the frequency of estimating the amount of carbohydrate and the frequency of skipping meal at school. In addition, we reviewed how they responded when the nutritional info was not available on the food package. Our aim is to analyse the compliance of carbohydrate counting and to provide the effective education and support to caregivers and patients.

Results: Out of the total 17 responses, 76%, which is 13 responses, were from parents and the rest was from patients. Remarkably, 82% of the total responses mentioned that they used carb and cal book and app. And when there was no nutritional info on food package, 35% of the total responders guessed the amount of carbohydrate using their previous experience while 31% of them relied on the Internet and 34% of them searched through the reference book. Surprisingly, 94% said that they did carb counting every time they ate at home whereas only 6% mentioned that they counted carb 1–3 times per day. However, the compliance dropped at school. 65% of the responders counted carb every time they ate at school while 6% counted carb less than one time per day or 1–3 times per week at school.

Conclusion: Even though the parents and patients aware that the compliance and accuracy of carb counting is vital in the glycaemic control, the encouragement and education on carb counting still need to be promoted at school.