Correlates, facilitators and barriers of physical activity among primary care patients with prediabetes in Singapore - a mixed methods approach.

BACKGROUND: Primary care patients with prediabetes is a priority group in the clinical, organisational and policy contexts. Engaging in regular physical activity is crucial to prevent diabetes for this group. The objectives of the study were to assess factors associated with meeting the recommendation of at least 150 min of moderate/vigorous physical activity weekly, and to explore facilitators and barriers related to the behaviour among primary care patients with prediabetes in Singapore. METHODS: This was a mixed methods study, consisting of a cross-sectional survey involving 433 participants from 8 polyclinics, and in-depth interviews with 48 of them. Adjusted prevalence ratios (aPR) were obtained by mixed effects Poisson regression model. The socio-ecological model (SEM) was applied, and thematic analysis performed. RESULTS: The prevalence of meeting the recommendation was 65.8%. This was positively associated with being male (aPR 1.21, 95%CI 1.09-1.34), living in 4-5 room public housing (aPR 1.19, 95%CI 1.07-1.31), living in executive flat/private housing (aPR 1.26, 95%CI 1.06-1.50), having family members/friends to exercise with (aPR 1.57, 95%CI 1.38-1.78); and negatively associated with a personal history of osteoarthritis (aPR 0.75, 95%CI 0.59-0.96), as well as time spent sitting or reclining daily (aPR 0.96, 95%CI 0.94-0.98). The recurrent themes for not meeting the recommendation included lacking companionship from family members/friends, medical conditions hindering physical activity (particularly osteoarthritis), lacking knowledge/skills to exercise properly, "no time" to exercise and barriers pertaining to exercise facilities in the neighbourhood. The recurrent themes for meeting the recommendation included family/peer influence, health/well-being concerns and education by healthcare professionals. CONCLUSIONS: Much more remains to be done to promote physical activity among primary care patients with prediabetes in Singapore. Participants reported facilitators and barriers to physical activity at different levels of the SEM. Apart from the individual and interpersonal levels, practitioners and policy makers need to work together to address the organisational, community and policy barriers to physical activity.

Health education and communication needs among primary care patients with prediabetes in Singapore: A mixed methods approach.

AIMS: To assess factors associated with ever receiving prediabetes education, and to explore the health education and communication needs among primary care patients with prediabetes in Singapore. METHODS: A mixed methods study, consisting of a cross-sectional survey involving 433 patients with prediabetes aged 21-79, and in-depth interviews (IDIs) with 48. Multivariable regression was used to analyse the survey results, while thematic analysis was used to analyse the IDIs. RESULTS: The prevalence of ever receiving prediabetes education was 26.6%. This was positively associated with school education, impaired glucose tolerance, number of co-morbidities, having family or peer with diabetes, having support to reduce diabetes risk, confidence to self-manage prediabetes, and negatively associated with age. A common reason among those not receiving such education was not being referred by doctors. The preferred content of health communication messages were to focus on risk and prevention of diabetes, health and family, and to avoid the term 'prediabetes' in messages. The top 2 preferred education components were healthy eating and physical activity, and the most desired setting was the community centre. CONCLUSIONS: More efforts are needed to increase the take-up rate of prediabetes education. Polyclinic healthcare professionals could provide preliminary advice, and subsequently refer patients to community-based programmes or resources.

Correlates, Facilitators and Barriers of Healthy Eating Among Primary Care Patients with Prediabetes in Singapore-A Mixed Methods Approach.

Healthy diet remains the primary means to prevent chronic diseases among those with prediabetes. We conducted a mixed methods study, consisting of a cross-sectional survey and in-depth interviews to assess factors associated with fulfilling the healthy plate recommendation, and to explore reasons for the behaviour among primary care patients with prediabetes in Singapore. The prevalence of meeting the recommendation was 57.3%. This was positively associated with being married and negatively associated with being Malay, frequency of eating out weekly and frequency of deep-fried food consumption weekly. The recurrent themes for not meeting the recommendation included family influence, perception of healthy food being not tasty, lack of skills to prepare or choose healthy food, difficulty in finding healthier options when eating out, and healthy food being costly. The recurrent themes for meeting the recommendation included family influence, self-discipline, fear of disease complications, education by healthcare professionals, mass media influence and health promotion campaigns. Much more remains to be done to promote healthy eating among these patients. There were different levels of facilitators and barriers to healthy eating. Apart from the individual and interpersonal levels, practitioners and policy makers need to work together to address the organisational, community and policy barriers to healthy eating.

Public hospital preparations for SARS outbreak: experience of Alexandra Hospital.

Alexandra Hospital (AH) was one of the public hospitals in Singapore that responded to the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) crisis. Being the only public hospital that remained "SARS-free", i.e., with no documented intra-institutional spread of disease, AH had to tackle a sudden, two-fold surge in hospital attendances and patient volume. Being the oldest hospital with a traditional open ward design and lack of proper isolation facilities, tough command and control policies had to be implemented to reduce the risk of a SARS outbreak. Stringent infection control measures, screening and triage, clinical procedures, and administrative policies all were important factors in helping the hospital balance the need to run routine operations while "fighting" SARS. Staff and people management also were crucial in keeping the workforce healthy and maintaining their morale and confidence during this difficult period.