Preventive advice given by patients with type 2 diabetes to their offspring

Abstract

Background: Patients' advice-giving behaviour could be a useful preventive strategy for type 2 diabetes. Aim: To investigate the conditions under which patients offer advice to their offspring and to assess the factors that facilitate advice giving. Design of study: Cross-sectional observational study. Setting: A general hospital with a diabetes clinic in a metropolitan suburb in Japan. Method: Parents with type 2 diabetes (n = 221) who had offspring aged 20-49 years inclusive without diabetes completed a self-administered questionnaire containing items relating to advice-giving behaviour, demographic characteristics, risk perception, and their disease status. Results: A total of 184 (83.3%) patients responded that parental advice-giving behaviour is needed for their offspring, while 138 (62.4%) actually advised their offspring. Multiple logistic regression analysis showed that patients who were female (odds ratio [OR] = 1.94, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.03 to 3.65, P = 0.041), living with their offspring (OR = 1.92, 95% CI = 1.04 to 3.57, p = 0.038), had complications (OR = 2.74, 95% CI = 1.25 to 6.00, P = 0.029), or perceived that their offspring had a high risk of developing diabetes (OR =1.45, 95% CI = 1.09 to 1.93, P = 0.011) were most likely to advise their offspring. Conclusion: Patients with type 2 diabetes recognised the need to give advice about preventive behaviour to their offspring but were not necessarily engaging in advice-giving behaviour. Advice-giving behaviour was affected by the parents' own disease status, their perception of their offspring's risk of developing diabetes, and the relationship between the patients and their offspring. ©British Journal of General Practice.