Audit of essential knowledge of diabetes in patients with diabetes in Zimbabwe.

Introduction: in Zimbabwe, the organized diabetes education in the governmental health care system is limited, but the Diabetes Association has some educational activities in which persons with diabetes can participate. In this study, the purpose was to measure essential knowledge of diabetes and its management in persons with diabetes living in Zimbabwe. Methods: a cross-sectional descriptive study design was used to audit essential knowledge of diabetes and its management in persons with type 2 diabetes through a survey of 64 persons attending meetings at the Zimbabwe Diabetes Association. Both descriptive and analytic statistical methods were used. Results: in general respondents have acceptable knowledge of diabetes, whereas their knowledge of glycaemic control is low (45%), likewise their knowledge of how to manage medical treatment when ill. Knowledge concerning lifestyle-related issues was generally low. Respondents had limited knowledge about changes in blood glucose during physical activity (18%) and their knowledge about appropriate food for people with diabetes was low (67%). Most respondents were aware of the importance of regular examinations to avoid long-term complications related to diabetes (>87%) but their knowledge of how to prevent foot complications and perform daily preventive foot care was limited (73 %). Conclusion: there is limited knowledge of diabetes in Zimbabwean persons with type 2 diabetes even if they have participated in educational activities at the patient associations. This further supports the need for development of education for patients in health care which requires increased competence in the field among health care staff.

Reduced Health Related Quality of Life, Increased Fatigue, and Daytime Sleepiness in Women with Hyperprolactinemia.

Prolactin has many physiological effects and seems to be involved in the human quality of life and well-being. The aim of this study was to describe health related quality of life, fatigue and daytime sleepiness in women with untreated hyperprolactinemia. In total 32 women (mean age 37.0±10.9 years) with verified hyperprolactinemia completed a questionnaire including questions on fatigue, measured with the Swedish version of the Fatigue Impact Scale (FIS), propensity to fall in sleep, measured with the Swedish version of the Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS), and Health related quality of life (HRQoL), measured by the Short-Form-36 scale (SF-36). For comparison Swedish normative data were used. The women were also interviewed regarding different symptoms related to hyperprolactinemia and the answers were analyzed using qualitative content analysis. HRQoL, as measured with SF-36, was significantly lower in all dimensions, except in physical function, compared to the Swedish reference population. Total FIS was 54.3 (41.1) and mean score on the ESS was 8.7 (4.2) indicating increased fatigue and deterioration in night sleep. The women felt very tired, and several of them rarely felt rested in the morning. The restless night sleep and the fatigue during the daytime got them to feel feeble and sometimes to find it difficult to concentrate, which affected both their mood and life in general. Women diagnosed with hyperprolactinemia reported deterioration in night sleep, increased rate of fatigue, and a reduced health related quality of life in comparison with the reference population.

'Striving for freedom or remaining with what is well-known': a focus-group study of self-management among people with type 1 diabetes who have suboptimal glycaemic control despite continuous subcutaneous insulin infusion.

INTRODUCTION: Continuous subcutaneous insulin infusion (CSII) treatment is beneficial for obtaining glycaemic control for many persons with type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM). Still, some individuals do not obtain improved HbA1C levels despite CSII treatment, and there is a lack of evidence regarding how psychosocial factors may influence glycaemic control. Thus, we aimed to explore the attitudes and experiences of self-management among people with T1DM and suboptimal glycaemic control despite CSII treatment. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: A qualitative inductive design was applied, and four FGDs were performed with 37 adult men and women of various ages and duration of T1DM. All participants had suboptimal glycaemic control despite CSII treatment. Transcripts were analysed using qualitative manifest and latent content analysis. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: The themes Searching for freedom and flexibility and Preferring safety and the well-known illustrated the divergent psychosocial strategies adapted, which both resulted in suboptimal glycaemic control. The technical devices and their effects on glycaemic levels may be challenging to understand and adjust to fit people's lifestyles. The rapid advances of technology devices in diabetes care can potentially change peoples' lives, but is the educational support developing as fast? Multifaceted web-based education of high quality, including tailored support with a person-centred focus, is more important than ever before as the need for technical knowledge and understanding may put further disease burdens to patients with T1DM on CSII treatment.

Limited knowledge of diabetes in patients attending an outpatient diabetes clinic at a referral hospital in Zimbabwe: a cross-sectional study.

INTRODUCTION: Diabetes mellitus (DM) has increased globally, with a significant increase noted in African communities. Self-care health-related behavior is determined by beliefs about health and illness which are based on the person?s knowledge of diabetes. The present study aimed to assess patients' diabetes awareness and level of diabetes knowledge in Zimbabwean adults with diabetes attending an outpatient diabetes clinic at a main referral hospital. METHODS: In this cross-sectional descriptive study, the Diabetes Knowledge Test (DKT) was used to measure 96 (71 women and 25 men) patients' knowledge of diabetes and their treatment. Both descriptive and analytic statistical methods were used. RESULTS: Most respondents had poor knowledge in all the three knowledge categories, total knowledge of diabetes, general knowledge of diabetes and knowledge of insulin use. Major knowledge gaps were noted related to insulin use, glycemic control and diet. Attending DM classes was significantly associated with general knowledge about diabetes (p 0.026) while the level of education was an independent determinant of Total Knowledge and Insulin use knowledge scores. CONCLUSION: The identified knowledge gaps need to be addressed to control and minimize diabetes mellitus-related complications.

An obesity provoking behaviour negatively influences young normal weight subjects' health related quality of life and causes depressive symptoms.

In many parts of the world the prevalence of a sedentary lifestyle in combination with high consumption of food has increased, which contributes to increased risk for becoming overweight. Our primary aim was, in an intervention, to examine the influence on health related quality of life (HRQoL) and mood in young normal weight subjects of both sexes, when adopting an obesity provoking behaviour by increasing the energy intake via fast food and simultaneously adopting a sedentary lifestyle. A secondary aim was to follow-up possible long-term effects on HRQoL and mood 6 and 12 months after this short-term intervention. In this prospective study, 18 healthy normal weight subjects (mean age 26±6.6 years), mainly university students were prescribed doubled energy intake, and maximum 5000 steps/day, during 4 weeks. An age and sex matched control group (n=18), who were asked to have unchanged eating habits and physical activity, was recruited. Before and after the intervention questionnaires including Short Form-36, Hospital Anxiety Depression scale, Center of Epidemiological Studies Depression scale, Sense of Coherence and Mastery scale were completed by the subjects in the intervention group and by the controls with 4 weeks interval. Six and 12 months after the intervention the subjects underwent the same procedure as at baseline and the controls completed the same questionnaires. During the intervention, subjects in the intervention group increased their bodyweight and developed markedly lower physical and mental health scores on Short Form-36 as well as depressive symptoms while no changes appeared in the controls. The increase of depressive symptoms was associated with increases of energy intake, body weight and body fat. When followed up, 6 and 12 months after the intervention, physical and mental health had returned completely to baseline values, despite somewhat increased body weight. In conclusion, adopting obesity provoking behaviour for 4 weeks decreases HRQoL and mood in young normal weight subjects. The effect is temporary and when followed up 6 and 12 months after the short-term intervention no remaining influence is found.

Long-term increase of fat mass after a four week intervention with fast food based hyper-alimentation and limitation of physical activity.

BACKGROUND: A sedentary lifestyle and increased consumption of energy dense food have become more common in many parts of the world. The aim of this study was to study long term effects on body composition after a four week intervention with fast food based hyper-alimentation and limited physical activity in young normal weight subjects. METHODS: Eighteen subjects, mean age 26 (6.6) years, increased their energy intake with in average 70% and physical activity were not to exceed 5000 steps/day. Body composition was measured by Dual energy x-ray (DXA) at baseline, after the intervention and after 12 months. A matched control group was also included. ANOVA and Student's paired and unpaired t-test were used. RESULTS: During the intervention body weight increased with 6.4 (2.8) kg and DXA measurements showed increases of both fat free mass and fat mass. Six months after the intervention the subjects had lost most of the weight gain, - 4.7 (3.1) kg. Twelve months after the intervention body weight had increased with 1.5 (2.4) kg compared to baseline (p = 0.018). DXA measurements at 12 months showed unchanged fat free mass compared to baseline but higher fat mass, + 1.4 (1.9) kg (p = 0.01). After 2.5 years the increase of body weight was 3.1 (4.0) kg (p = 0.01) while there was no change in controls compared to baseline, + 0.1(2.5) kg (p = 0.88). CONCLUSION: One year after a short term intervention with increased fast food based hyper-alimentation there was an increase of fat mass but unchanged fat free mass. As the change of fat mass was larger than expected from prospective epidemiological studies and as there was no increase of body weight in controls it raises the issue whether there is a long-term effect to increase fat mass of a short period of hyper-alimentation.

Young healthy individuals develop lack of energy when adopting an obesity provoking behaviour for 4 weeks: a phenomenological analysis.

During the past 20 years, a sedentary lifestyle has become more common and simultaneously the consumption of energy-dense food has increased. These are two major risk factors associated with the increase of overweight and obesity, which is found in all ages over the world. The low well-being reported by obese individuals could be associated with increased food intake or it might be a specific consequence of obesity and lack of physical fitness. The aim of this study was to describe the experience of the phenomenon, adopting an obesity provoking behaviour, by increasing energy intake and simultaneously having a sedentary lifestyle for 4 weeks in healthy, normal-weight individuals of both genders. Eighteen healthy individuals (12 men and 6 women; median age 23, range 21-44 years) were included in an intervention, with a doubled energy intake and a maximum physical activity of 5000 steps per day during 4 weeks. After completing this intervention the participants were interviewed and asked to describe their experience during the past 4 weeks. A phenomenological approach was used to gain understanding of the phenomenon and analyses of the transcripts were performed in four steps according to Giorgis' method. The main essence of the phenomenon, adopting an obesity provoking behaviour, was found to be lack of energy, related to emotional life, relations and life habits. Lack of energy emerged from five structures: influenced self-confidence, commitment to oneself and others, managing eating, feelings of tiredness and physical impact. These five structures were manifested through 12 constituents. These lifestyle changes decreased the sense of well-being in nonobese healthy individuals of both genders.

Two weeks of overfeeding with candy, but not peanuts, increases insulin levels and body weight.

OBJECTIVE: To study the effects of snacking based on fast acting carbohydrates (candy) or fat and protein (peanuts) in a prospective randomized, parallel intervention study. METHODS: Basal metabolic rate (BMR) and cardiovascular risk factors were measured before and after hyper-alimentation by addition of 20 kcal/kg (84 kJ/kg) body weight of either candy or roasted peanuts, to the regular caloric intake, for two weeks in healthy subjects. Eleven men and 14 women completed the randomized study. RESULTS: Energy-intake increased similarly in the groups (candy: +46.1+/-35%, peanuts: +46.8+/-28% p=0.96). Body-weight (candy: from 67.3+/-7.6 kg to 68.1+/-7.3 kg, p=0.01, nuts: from 68.7+/-6.1 kg to 69.0+/-5.7 kg p=0.3) and waist circumference increased significantly only in the candy group. At the end of the study LDL cholesterol (candy: 2.6+/-0.4 mmol/l peanuts: 2.1+/-0.4 mmol/l, p=0.005) and ApoB/ApoA-1-ratio (candy: 0.68+/-0.16 peanuts 0.53+/-0.11, p=0.01) were higher in the candy group than in the peanut group. On the other hand, BMR increased only in the peanut group (candy: from 6.657+/-1.1 MJ/24 h to 6.762+/-1.1 MJ/24 h, p=0.3 nuts: from 6.896+/-0.98 MJ/24 h to 7.256+/-1.1 MJ/24 h, p=0.02). CONCLUSION: Two weeks of snacking based on peanuts does not cause the same negative metabolic effects as an isocaloric diet in which the snacking is based on short acting carbohydrates in the form of candy in non-obese healthy subjects.