ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Muslims with chronic diseases tend to fast during Ramadan, although Islam allows them not to fast. Therefore, understanding their perceptions and how they manage their health, especially as a minority population, is very important. OBJECTIVE: To examine Muslims' (1) perceptions of fasting exemptions, (2) medication usage behaviour, (3) perceptions of relationships with healthcare providers and (4) factors impacting health management during Ramadan. METHOD: This was a qualitative study employing four focus groups (two groups of women and two groups of men). Adult Muslims (aged 18 years or more) with chronic diseases were invited to participate. Participants were asked open-ended questions about their fasting ability, medication usage behaviours, healthcare access and collaboration with providers during Ramadan. Trained researchers conducted the focus groups interviews in both English and Arabic. Each focus group was recorded, and three investigators independently transcribed the data and extracted themes and categories. Coding terminology issues were resolved through discussion. RESULTS: Twenty-five Muslims with chronic diseases (e.g., diabetes, hypertension, renal failure and anaemia) participated. The most prominent themes/subthemes were as follows: (1) fasting exemption (e.g., uncontrolled medical conditions), (2) fasting nonexemption (e.g., controlled medical conditions), (3) nonoral medication use during Ramadan, (4) healthcare provider involvement during Ramadan, and (5) factors impacting health management during Ramadan. CONCLUSION: Muslim patients perceive fasting as an important religious practice, so they tend to self-modify their medication-taking behaviours. Educating pharmacists and other healthcare providers about Muslim culture, especially their strong desire to fast, may lead to Muslims better managing their medications and viewing pharmacists and other healthcare providers as knowledgeable healthcare providers.
Subject(s)
Diabetes Mellitus , Islam , Adult , Fasting , Female , Humans , Male , Perception , Pharmacists , United StatesABSTRACT
INTRODUCTION: This study aims to (1) describe the prevalence and clustering of 3 health behaviors, (2) examine the association between individual health behaviors and health-related quality of life, and (3) explore the association between the clustering of the health behaviors and health-related quality of life. METHODS: Investigators analyzed a sample of U.S. adults aged 18-64 years using data from the 2016-2018 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System survey in March 2020. Logistic regression models examined the associations among 3 healthy behaviors (currently not smoking, physical activity, and nonheavy alcohol consumption) and 4 indicators of health-related quality of life (general health, physical health, mental health, and activity limitation). Alpha was set at 0.01. RESULTS: A total of 450,870 individuals were included in the analysis (weighted n=100,102,329). Of these, 82.0% were current nonsmokers, 92.8% were nonheavy drinkers, and 77.6% reported physical activity. The prevalence of having none, 1, 2, and 3 of the health behaviors was 0.7%, 7.7%, 30.1%, and 61.5%, respectively. Smoking status and physical activity status were significantly associated with all the 4 health-related quality of life indicators. Alcohol status was significantly associated with mental health and activity limitation. The associations demonstrated a higher health-related quality of life among individuals who reported healthy behaviors than among those who did not engage in healthy behaviors. Compared with respondents who reported none of the health behaviors, people with all 3 health behaviors were more likely to report higher health-related quality of life. CONCLUSIONS: Health behaviors were significantly associated with health-related quality of life among U.S. adults. Healthy behaviors should be encouraged because adopting these behaviors may contribute to a higher health-related quality of life.
