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Objective To develop and validate new measures of diabetes-specific health-related quality of life (HRQOL) for people with type 1 diabetes (T1D) that are brief, developmentally appropriate, and usable in clinical research and care. Here we report on the phases of developing and validating the self-report Type 1 Diabetes and Life (T1DAL) measures for children (age 8–11) and adolescents (age 12–17). Methods Measure development included qualitative interviews with youth and parents (n = 16 dyads) followed by piloting draft measures and conducting cognitive debriefing with youth (n = 9) to refine the measures. To evaluate the psychometric properties, children (n = 194) and adolescents (n = 257) at three T1D Exchange Clinic Network sites completed the age-appropriate T1DAL measure and previously validated questionnaires measuring related constructs. Using psychometric data, the investigators reduced the length of each T1DAL measure to 21 and 23 items, respectively, and conducted a final round of cognitive debriefing with six children and adolescents. Results The T1DAL measures for children and adolescents demonstrated good internal consistency (α = 0.84 and 0.89, respectively) and test–retest reliability (r = 0.78 and 0.80, respectively). Significant correlations between the T1DAL scores and measures of general quality of life, generic and diabetes-specific HRQOL, diabetes burden, and diabetes strengths demonstrated construct validity. Correlations with measures of self-management (child and adolescent) and glycemic control (adolescent only) demonstrated criterion validity. Factor analyses indicated four developmentally specific subscales per measure. Participants reported satisfaction with the measures. Conclusions The new T1DAL measures for children and adolescents with T1D are reliable, valid, and suitable for use in care settings and clinical research.

OBJECTIVE Patients with type 1 diabetes who do aerobic exercise often experience a drop in blood glucose concentration that can result in hypoglycemia. Current approaches to prevent exercise-induced hypoglycemia include reduction in insulin dose or ingestion of carbohydrates, but these strategies may still result in hypoglycemia or hyperglycemia. We sought to determine whether mini-dose glucagon (MDG) given subcutaneously before exercise could prevent subsequent glucose lowering and to compare the glycemic response to current approaches for mitigating exercise-associated hypoglycemia. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS We conducted a four-session, randomized crossover trial involving 15 adults with type 1 diabetes treated with continuous subcutaneous insulin infusion who exercised fasting in the morning at ∼55% VO2max for 45 min under conditions of no intervention (control), 50% basal insulin reduction, 40-g oral glucose tablets, or 150-μg subcutaneous glucagon (MDG). RESULTS During exercise and early recovery from exercise, plasma glucose increased slightly with MDG compared with a decrease with control and insulin reduction and a greater increase with glucose tablets (P < 0.001). Insulin levels were not different among sessions, whereas glucagon increased with MDG administration (P < 0.001). Hypoglycemia (plasma glucose CONCLUSIONS MDG may be more effective than insulin reduction for preventing exercise-induced hypoglycemia and may result in less postintervention hyperglycemia than ingestion of carbohydrate.