Determinants of healthful eating and physical activity among adolescents and young adults with type 1 diabetes in Qatar: A qualitative study

Hanan AlBurno; Liesbeth Mercken; Hein de Vries; Dabia Al Mohannadi; Francine Schneider

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0270984

Determinants of healthful eating and physical activity among adolescents and young adults with type 1 diabetes in Qatar: A qualitative study

Hanan AlBurno^*, Liesbeth Mercken, Hein de Vries, Dabia Al Mohannadi, Francine Schneider

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Academic › peer-review

Abstract

BACKGROUND: In Qatar, as in the rest of the world, the sharp rise in the prevalence of type 1 diabetes (T1D) is a leading cause for concern, in terms associated with morbidity, mortality, and increasing health costs. Besides adhering to medication, the outcome of diabetes management is also dependent on patient adherence to the variable self-care behaviors including healthful eating (HE) and physical activity (PA). Yet, dietary intake and PA in adolescents and young adults (AYAs) with T1D are known to fall short of recommended guidelines. The aim of this study was to develop an in-depth understanding of the behavioral determinants of HE and PA adherence among Arab AYAs within the age range of 17-24 years with T1D attending Hamad General Hospital.

METHODS: Semi-structured, face-to-face individual interviews were conducted with 20 participants. Interviews were based on an integrative health behavior change model, the I-Change model (ICM). All interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed verbatim, and analyzed using the framework method.

RESULTS: More participants reported non-adherence than adherence. Several motivational determinants of adherence to HE and PA were identified. The majority of participants were cognizant of their own behaviors towards HE and PA. Yet, some did not link low adherence to HE and PA with increased risks of health problems resulting from T1D. Facilitators to adherence were identified as being convinced of the advantages of HE and PA, having support and high self-efficacy, a high level of intention, and a good health care system.

CONCLUSION: The suboptimal adherence in AYAs to HE and PA needs more attention. Supportive actions are needed to encourage adherence to a healthy lifestyle to achieve benefits in terms of glycemic control and overall health outcomes, with a special focus on adolescents. Interventions are needed to foster motivation by addressing the relevant determinants in order to promote adherence to these two behaviors in AYAs with T1D.

Original language	English
Article number	e0270984
Pages (from-to)	e0270984
Journal	PLOS ONE
Volume	17
Issue number	7
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0270984
Publication status	Published - Jul 2022

Keywords

Adolescent
Adult
Diabetes Mellitus, Type 1/therapy
Exercise
Glycemic Control
Humans
Qatar/epidemiology
Qualitative Research
Young Adult

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10.1371/journal.pone.0270984Licence: CC BY

Cite this

@article{eab56e5a80fc4a6eaf9d0d14855d0020,

title = "Determinants of healthful eating and physical activity among adolescents and young adults with type 1 diabetes in Qatar: A qualitative study",

abstract = "BACKGROUND: In Qatar, as in the rest of the world, the sharp rise in the prevalence of type 1 diabetes (T1D) is a leading cause for concern, in terms associated with morbidity, mortality, and increasing health costs. Besides adhering to medication, the outcome of diabetes management is also dependent on patient adherence to the variable self-care behaviors including healthful eating (HE) and physical activity (PA). Yet, dietary intake and PA in adolescents and young adults (AYAs) with T1D are known to fall short of recommended guidelines. The aim of this study was to develop an in-depth understanding of the behavioral determinants of HE and PA adherence among Arab AYAs within the age range of 17-24 years with T1D attending Hamad General Hospital.METHODS: Semi-structured, face-to-face individual interviews were conducted with 20 participants. Interviews were based on an integrative health behavior change model, the I-Change model (ICM). All interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed verbatim, and analyzed using the framework method.RESULTS: More participants reported non-adherence than adherence. Several motivational determinants of adherence to HE and PA were identified. The majority of participants were cognizant of their own behaviors towards HE and PA. Yet, some did not link low adherence to HE and PA with increased risks of health problems resulting from T1D. Facilitators to adherence were identified as being convinced of the advantages of HE and PA, having support and high self-efficacy, a high level of intention, and a good health care system.CONCLUSION: The suboptimal adherence in AYAs to HE and PA needs more attention. Supportive actions are needed to encourage adherence to a healthy lifestyle to achieve benefits in terms of glycemic control and overall health outcomes, with a special focus on adolescents. Interventions are needed to foster motivation by addressing the relevant determinants in order to promote adherence to these two behaviors in AYAs with T1D.",

keywords = "Adolescent, Adult, Diabetes Mellitus, Type 1/therapy, Exercise, Glycemic Control, Humans, Qatar/epidemiology, Qualitative Research, Young Adult",

author = "Hanan AlBurno and Liesbeth Mercken and {de Vries}, Hein and {Al Mohannadi}, Dabia and Francine Schneider",

note = "Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2022 AlBurno et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.",

year = "2022",

month = jul,

doi = "10.1371/journal.pone.0270984",

language = "English",

volume = "17",

pages = "e0270984",

journal = "PLOS ONE",

issn = "1932-6203",

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TY - JOUR

T1 - Determinants of healthful eating and physical activity among adolescents and young adults with type 1 diabetes in Qatar

T2 - A qualitative study

AU - AlBurno, Hanan

AU - Mercken, Liesbeth

AU - de Vries, Hein

AU - Al Mohannadi, Dabia

AU - Schneider, Francine

N1 - Publisher Copyright: © 2022 AlBurno et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

PY - 2022/7

Y1 - 2022/7

N2 - BACKGROUND: In Qatar, as in the rest of the world, the sharp rise in the prevalence of type 1 diabetes (T1D) is a leading cause for concern, in terms associated with morbidity, mortality, and increasing health costs. Besides adhering to medication, the outcome of diabetes management is also dependent on patient adherence to the variable self-care behaviors including healthful eating (HE) and physical activity (PA). Yet, dietary intake and PA in adolescents and young adults (AYAs) with T1D are known to fall short of recommended guidelines. The aim of this study was to develop an in-depth understanding of the behavioral determinants of HE and PA adherence among Arab AYAs within the age range of 17-24 years with T1D attending Hamad General Hospital.METHODS: Semi-structured, face-to-face individual interviews were conducted with 20 participants. Interviews were based on an integrative health behavior change model, the I-Change model (ICM). All interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed verbatim, and analyzed using the framework method.RESULTS: More participants reported non-adherence than adherence. Several motivational determinants of adherence to HE and PA were identified. The majority of participants were cognizant of their own behaviors towards HE and PA. Yet, some did not link low adherence to HE and PA with increased risks of health problems resulting from T1D. Facilitators to adherence were identified as being convinced of the advantages of HE and PA, having support and high self-efficacy, a high level of intention, and a good health care system.CONCLUSION: The suboptimal adherence in AYAs to HE and PA needs more attention. Supportive actions are needed to encourage adherence to a healthy lifestyle to achieve benefits in terms of glycemic control and overall health outcomes, with a special focus on adolescents. Interventions are needed to foster motivation by addressing the relevant determinants in order to promote adherence to these two behaviors in AYAs with T1D.

AB - BACKGROUND: In Qatar, as in the rest of the world, the sharp rise in the prevalence of type 1 diabetes (T1D) is a leading cause for concern, in terms associated with morbidity, mortality, and increasing health costs. Besides adhering to medication, the outcome of diabetes management is also dependent on patient adherence to the variable self-care behaviors including healthful eating (HE) and physical activity (PA). Yet, dietary intake and PA in adolescents and young adults (AYAs) with T1D are known to fall short of recommended guidelines. The aim of this study was to develop an in-depth understanding of the behavioral determinants of HE and PA adherence among Arab AYAs within the age range of 17-24 years with T1D attending Hamad General Hospital.METHODS: Semi-structured, face-to-face individual interviews were conducted with 20 participants. Interviews were based on an integrative health behavior change model, the I-Change model (ICM). All interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed verbatim, and analyzed using the framework method.RESULTS: More participants reported non-adherence than adherence. Several motivational determinants of adherence to HE and PA were identified. The majority of participants were cognizant of their own behaviors towards HE and PA. Yet, some did not link low adherence to HE and PA with increased risks of health problems resulting from T1D. Facilitators to adherence were identified as being convinced of the advantages of HE and PA, having support and high self-efficacy, a high level of intention, and a good health care system.CONCLUSION: The suboptimal adherence in AYAs to HE and PA needs more attention. Supportive actions are needed to encourage adherence to a healthy lifestyle to achieve benefits in terms of glycemic control and overall health outcomes, with a special focus on adolescents. Interventions are needed to foster motivation by addressing the relevant determinants in order to promote adherence to these two behaviors in AYAs with T1D.

KW - Adolescent

KW - Adult

KW - Diabetes Mellitus, Type 1/therapy

KW - Exercise

KW - Glycemic Control

KW - Humans

KW - Qatar/epidemiology

KW - Qualitative Research

KW - Young Adult

U2 - 10.1371/journal.pone.0270984

DO - 10.1371/journal.pone.0270984

M3 - Article

C2 - 35793375

SN - 1932-6203

VL - 17

SP - e0270984

JO - PLOS ONE

JF - PLOS ONE

IS - 7

M1 - e0270984

ER -