Autoantibody Screening Attitudes and Experiences in People Affected by Type 1 Diabetes

Screening for type 1 diabetes (T1D) autoantibodies provides risk information before the onset of symptoms. Yet few individuals undergo screening. We aimed to understand knowledge, attitudes, and experiences regarding autoantibody screening in people affected by T1D. We recruited adults (aged 18+) from the T1D Exchange Online Registry who fell exclusively into one group: persons with T1D (‘PwD’) with a biological child without T1D or plans for a child; caregivers to a biological child with T1D and at least one without (‘caregivers’); and biological children or siblings to a person with T1D (‘relatives’). Eligible participants completed an online survey. As shown in Table 1, participants reported knowledge about autoantibody screening between ‘a little’ and ‘somewhat’ across groups. Perceptions of screening both in general and for their child [themselves] were generally positive, but most participants had not screened. PwD and caregivers reported feeling somewhat confident to independently understand results and explain results to their child. Relatives reported slightly less independence in self-efficacy to understand results. Results suggest more work needs to be done to increase awareness and knowledge about autoantibody screening. Moreover, while perceptions about screening are positive, screening remains underutilized even in a sample of people who are experienced with T1D. Disclosure C.S.Kelly: None. K.S.M.Chapman: None. J.L.Dunne: Employee; Janssen Research & Development, LLC. E.M.Cornelius: None. M.Peter: None. E.Pagan indoe: Other Relationship; Johnson & Johnson. W.Wolf: None.