1.Trajectory, Perceived Causes and Efforts in Diabetes Selfmanagement: A Qualitative Study Among Young People With Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus and Caregivers
Nursyuhadah Othman ; Qi Ying Lean ; Chin Fen Neoh ; Mohd Shahezwan Abd Wahab ; Nurain Mohd Noor ; Shueh Lin Lim ; Yuet Yen Wong
Malaysian Journal of Medicine and Health Sciences 2024;20(No.1):242-252
Introduction: Previous studies have suggested that young individuals with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) face
challenges in achieving optimal diabetes self-management, leading to difficulties in attaining the recommended
glycaemic target. The reasons behind these suboptimal practices remain unclear due to the limited number of studies conducted in Malaysia that focused on diabetes self-management among young people. This qualitative study
aimed to understand the lived experience of young people with T2DM on self-management in Malaysia. Methods:
Young people at the age of 10 to 24 years, who had been diagnosed with T2DM and the caregivers who managing
young people with T2DM were interviewed. Data were thematically analysed with the aid of QSR NVivo version 12.
Results: Sixteen young informants and eleven caregivers participated in this study. Three major themes conceptualised the lived experience of diabetes self-management: (1) the trajectory to T2DM diagnosis; (2) perceived causes of
T2DM; (3) the efforts in diabetes self-management. The route of diagnosis and experiential knowledge about T2DM
might determine their efforts in the self-management among the young people. Healthy eating, medication taking
and physical activity were perceived as important tasks in diabetes self-management. The involvement of the caregivers in diabetes self-management evolved over time. Conclusion: The study highlighted the experience of young
people and caregivers since the beginning of the diagnosis and their strategies in diabetes self-management. More
understanding of the lived experiences of patients and caregivers in disease management within the socio-ecological
context could help to improve health-care services and intervention for this population.