Barriers to the adoption of healthy behaviours among patients with non-communicable diseases at one selected referral hospital

Abstract

Background: Sub-Saharan Africa is experiencing a rapidly increasing non-communicable disease epidemic as the region continues to face long-term infectious disease challenges. This dual burden of disease is having a devastating impact on a continent already experiencing significant resource constraints, highlighting the urgent need for appropriate regional interventions. Despite the high morbidity and mortality caused by NCD, various interventions including NCD prevention and management interventions have been proposed. People have been made aware of healthy behaviors that can help them prevent or manage NCDs. However, studies have shown poor self-care management in patients with NCD, including a lack or poor implementation of healthy behaviors. This study aimed to identify barriers to the adoption of healthy behaviors among patients with NCD at a selected hospital in Rwanda.

Method: We used a cross-sectional study design with a quantitative approach. We targeted 300 patients enrolled in the NCD department of the reference hospital selected at the time of our study. The sample size of 171 people was calculated using Tara Yamane's formula. A developed and validated self-completed questionnaire was used for data collection and we analyzed the data using SPSS version 22.0. We performed descriptive and inferential statistics to show any significant association between the independent and dependent variables.

Result: Personal, social, and economic barriers to the adoption of healthy behaviors, including healthy eating, regular physical activity, smoking cessation, and alcohol reduction in patients with NCD, have been identified. discover. Most reported personal barriers to healthy eating, regular exercise, quitting smoking, and reducing alcohol intake were lack of knowledge about appropriate food choices (31.6%), fatigue (45%), lack of interest in quitting smoking (40.9%), and low self esteem perception. estimated due to lower consumption (39.2%). The most reported social barriers to healthy eating and regular exercise were lack of support from family and friends (32.2%) and (19.9%), and the most reported social barrier to smoking cessation was living with a smoking household (35.1). %) while social distancing was the most cited social barrier in reducing alcohol consumption (34.5%). Very expensive healthy food (38.6%), lack of exercise programs in the workplace (37.4%), getting sick and losing work (37.4%), and poor working conditions (46.2%) are the most reported economic barriers to healthy eating. and exercise regularly. smoking cessation, and alcohol reduction respectively. The analysis also showed that gender and education were significantly associated with individual barriers to regular exercise (P = 0.002) and individual barriers to quitting smoking (P = 0.002). No other significant associations were found between sociodemographic data and other variables. Furthermore, the results showed that marital status, age, and educational attainment were significantly associated with NCD categories, as the corresponding P-value results (P = 0.0003, P = 0.000, P = P = 0.002).

Conclusion and suggestions: The results of this study reveal different personal, social, and economic barriers to adopting healthy behaviors in patients with NCD. We recommend that stakeholders consider these barriers when developing and implementing various interventions to prevent and manage NCD.