Candidate: Stephen John Albrecht

Degree of: Doctor of Philosophy

Department: Psychology

Title: Increasing Blood Glucose Monitoring in Adolescents with Type 1 Diabetes: Effects of a Text Prompt

Committee: Dr. Amy E. Naugle, Chair
Dr. Linda LeBlanc
Dr. Scott Gaynor
Dr. Helen Pratt

Date: Monday, August 15, 2005 10:30 a.m.- 12:30 p.m.
3715 Wood Hall

Abstract: A series of single-subject designs (AB, ABAB) were used to assess the effects of an antecedent prompting procedure (i.e., text prompts) on blood glucose monitoring in young individuals diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. Text prompts were delivered through portable, automated paging technology. Frequency of blood glucose checks was obtained across meter, baseline, and intervention phases. Metabolic control was assessed by obtaining blood glucose levels for each check across baseline and intervention phases, and hemoglobin (HbA 1c ) values at study entry and follow-up. Results indicated that the text prompt increased blood glucose monitoring for three participants, and metabolic control improved for 2 participants when the text prompts were used. Results also indicated that telephone contacts used in this case study led to modest improvements in blood glucose monitoring, which may have attenuated the intervention effects for 2 participants. Efforts to gradually reduce the frequency of text prompts while maintaining adequate rates of blood glucose monitoring were partially successful for 1 participant. Findings from this case study suggest that text prompts delivered through automated paging technology has the potential to improve blood glucose monitoring and metabolic control in the short-term among young individuals diagnosed with type 1 diabetes.

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