Date of Award
1-20-2025
Degree Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
Department
Nursing
First Advisor
Lisa Skemp
Abstract
In Saudi Arabia (SA), between 2011 and 2021, there has been a 108% increase in death rates due to diabetes. Every year, around 3,800 Saudi children and adolescents under the age of 19 are diagnosed with Type I Diabetes (TIDM). Saudi adolescents with TIDM have less glycemic control than adults and younger children. If left untreated, inadequate glycemic control may hasten the onset of diabetes complications and early death. As adolescents with TIDM grow older, they are expected to take on more independence in Self-Management (SM) of their diabetes. The poor clinical outcomes of adolescents with diabetes, the onset of life transitions, and the transition experience to SM in this age group intensify the need to better understand the process of adolescent transition to SM. There are no research studies on the experience of Saudi adolescents with TIDM transition to SM. The purpose of this study was to explore and describe the experience of Saudi adolescents with TIDM as they transition to SM. Informed by Meleis’s theory of transition, the study used a qualitative descriptive design and individual interviews with middle and late-age Saudi adolescents in SA. The local experience was presented in this dissertation as voiced by 10 Saudi adolescents which is currently lacking in the Saudi diabetes literature. It was found that although adolescents go through specific and progressive steps as they transition to SM, their individual contextual factors along with their unique life transitions determine the shape of their transition experience. Failing to account for these contextual factors and life transitions would prevent a comprehensive understanding of the transition experience to SM. This study provided detailed descriptions that would potentially lead similar studies not only about adolescents with TIDM, but also adolescents with other chronic conditions.
Recommended Citation
almulhim, aeshah m., "The Experience of Transition to Self-Management for Saudi Adolescents with Type I Diabetes" (2025). Dissertations. 4155.
https://ecommons.luc.edu/luc_diss/4155
