Cheng Ling Jie, Wu Xi Vivien, Dawkes Susan, Lim Suan Tee and Wang Wenru
Khoo Teck Puat Hospital, Singapore
National University of Singapore, Singapore
Edinburgh Napier University, India
Posters & Accepted Abstracts: J Diabetes Metab
Background: Type-2 diabetes has become a global epidemic of the 21st century due to an ageing population and lifestyle changes. Previous studies examining the factors influencing diet barriers have lacked focus on diabetes patients with poor glycemic control. Objective: To investigate diet barriers and their influencing factors among outpatients with poorly controlled type-2 diabetes in Singapore. Method: A cross-sectional, descriptive correlational study. A convenience sample of 110 patients with poorly controlled type-2 diabetes was recruited from a tertiary hospital in Singapore. The Personal Diabetes Questionnaire, Appraisal of Diabetes Scale and sociodemographic and clinical data sheet were used to measure the study variables. Result: Our participants reported that the most common diet barriers were eating out, followed by food cravings. A significantly larger number of diet barriers were reported among the groups of patients of middle age, higher educational level and higher monthly income, without history of hospitalization and without comorbidities. Eating problems (β=0.36, p<0.01) and negative diabetes appraisal (β=0.51, SE=0.09, p<0.01) were identified as significant predictors of diet barriers, accounting for 63% of the variance. Conclusion: Singaporean patients with type-2 diabetes had fewer diet barriers than their counterparts in China and America. More perceived eating problems and negative diabetes appraisal predicted higher levels of diet barriers. Relevance to Clinical Practice: The findings laid the groundwork with preliminary findings for the development of culturally tailored and patient-centered education programs to enhance eating behaviors and promote positive appraisal.
