Factors affecting lifestyle modification among adults with type II diabetes mellitus attending care at Mbale Regional Referral Hospital in Mbale City, Eastern Uganda: A Mixed Methods Study.

Background: Globally diabetes affects over 530 million adults with Type II Diabetes (T2DM) accounting for approximately 98% of patients. T2DM is preventable, and its onset can be markedly postponed by increasing physical activity, reducing weight, and changing dietary habits, poor adherence to lifestyle modification was attributed to a number of factors such as poverty, and diet education. The main objective of this study was to explore factors affecting lifestyle modification among adults with type II diabetes mellitus at Mbale Regional Referral Hospital (MRRH) Design and methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study involving 262 participants was conducted in MRRH among T2DM patients attending the diabetic clinic. Quantitative data was collected through structured administered questionnaires. Simple random sampling was used to recruit respondents for the study. Quantitative data was analyzed at univariate, and bivariate levels using SPSS version 25. Qualitative data was analyzed using thematic analysis. Statistical significance was set at Results: About 70.1% of the participants were females, 63.4% were above 50 years, and 29.7% of participants had high knowledge on T2DM. Most participants engaged in health practices like recommended diet, regular physical activity, body weight monitoring, blood sugar monitoring, and health checkups. Gender, religion, occupation, physical exercise, smoking, and weight management significantly affected lifestyle modifications. Qualitative results revealed three main themes namely, social support, health education, and having a conducive environment as promoters to lifestyle modification, while two main themes namely lack of social support and religious and cultural beliefs were the main barriers. Conclusion: Generally, participants had good knowledge on the lifestyle modifications of T2DM. Gender, religion, occupation, physical exercise, smoking, and weight management significantly affected lifestyle modifications. Social support, health education, and having a conducive environment were reported as promoters to lifestyle modification, while lack of social support and religious and cultural beliefs were the main barriers. It is recommended that health care workers should continuously educate the patients on the lifestyle modifications considering their financial status, and all other limiting factors. A holistic approach to lifestyle modifications needs to be taken in order to help reduce the complications associated with the condition.