Dietary Behaviors among Patients with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus in Yogyakarta, Indonesia

Abstract

Purpose: To describe dietary behaviors and examine relationships between selected factors and dietary behaviors among type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) patients in Yogyakarta, Indonesia.<br /><br />Method: Seventy T2DM patients from a hospital in Yogyakarta who met the inclusion criteria were recruited. Patient&rsquo;s dietary behaviors were measured by the Dietary Behaviors Questionnaire developed for this study with adequate reliability. The questionnaire comprised of four dimensions: recognizing the amount of calorie needs, selecting healthy diet, arranging a meal plan, and managing dietary behaviors challenges. Higher scores indicate better dietary behaviors.<br /><br />Result: More than half of the patients were women (54.3%) with an average age of 56.8 years and diabetes duration of 9.7 years. The results revealed a moderate level of the total score of dietary behaviors. Considering each dimension, the results showed a moderate level of recognizing the amount of calorie needs, selecting healthy diet, and managing dietary behaviors challenges. The patients reported a high level of arranging meal plans. Pearson&rsquo;s correlation was used to examine the relationships between selected factors and dietary behaviors. There was a positive significant relationship between the knowledge regarding diabetic diet and the total dietary behaviors scores (r = .36, p&lt; .01). There were positive significant relationships between the knowledge regarding diabetic diet and the dimensions of recognizing the amount of calorie needs (r = .27, p&lt; .05), selecting healthy diet (r = .35, p&lt; .01), and managing dietary behaviors challenges (r = .28, p&lt; .05). In contrast, the findings indicated no significant relationship between knowledge regarding diabetic diet and arranging a meal plan dimension. Furthermore, there was no significant relationship between the diabetes duration and dietary behaviors.<br /><br />Conclusion: Dietary behaviors among T2DM patients in Yogyakarta were at a moderate level. Knowledge regarding diabetic diet is essential. Further study regarding intervention in increasing patients&rsquo; knowledge is needed to achieve better dietary behaviors.<br /><br />Keywords: Dietary behaviors, type 2 diabetes mellitus, knowledge, Yogyakarta, Indonesia<br /><br />