ArticleFrontiers in endocrinology2026
Carbohydrate counting knowledge and its association with diabetes distress in patients with type 1 diabetes: a cross-sectional study from the United Arab Emirates.
Article in Frontiers in endocrinology, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Introduction: Carbohydrate counting is central to dietary self-management in patients with type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM). However, objective assessments of carbohydrate counting knowledge and its relationship with psychosocial outcomes are scarce in Gulf populations. This study assessed carbohydrate counting knowledge, diabetes distress, and hypoglycaemia awareness in patients with T1DM attending a tertiary diabetes centre in the United Arab Emirates. Methods: This was a cross-sectional study of 40 patients with T1DM (age ≥ 14 years, diabetes duration ≥ 12 months) attending the Tawam Hospital Diabetes Clinic, Al Ain, UAE. Carbohydrate counting knowledge was assessed using the Arabic version of the 43-item AdultCarbQuiz questionnaire. Diabetes distress was measured using the two-item Diabetes Distress Scale (DDS-2), and hypoglycaemia awareness was measured using the Gold score. Pearson's correlations, one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) across knowledge quartiles, and partial correlations adjusted for HbA1c and Gold score were performed. Results: The mean AdultCarbQuiz score was 26.2 ± 4.0 out of 43 (60.9%). Domain analysis revealed strong carbohydrate food recognition (domain mean 80.1% correct) but poor quantification skills (20-27.5% correct for portion estimation) and meal-level counting (2.5-15% correct). Diabetes distress was present in 37.5% of the participants, and impaired hypoglycaemia awareness was present in 20.0% of the participants. Knowledge of carbohydrate counting showed a moderate inverse correlation with diabetes distress (r = -0.468, 95% CI -0.68 to -0.18, p = 0.002), which strengthened further after adjusting for HbA1c and Gold score (partial r = -0.579, 95% CI -0.77 to -0.30, p < 0.001). In exploratory analyses, younger age (r = -0.404, p = 0.010) and shorter diabetes duration (r = -0.344, p = 0.030) were associated with higher knowledge scores. No association was observed between the knowledge scores and HbA1c levels (r = 0.179, p = 0.295). Discussion: In this cross-sectional sample, carbohydrate counting knowledge was independently and inversely associated with diabetes distress, regardless of glycaemic control. Specific knowledge gaps in carbohydrate quantification and meal-level counting are actionable targets for educational intervention in this population. These findings highlight the value of addressing both nutritional knowledge and emotional well-being in T1DM management; whether improving carbohydrate-counting knowledge reduces distress requires longitudinal and interventional study.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.