Dietary adherence and the associated factors among Indonesian patients with type 2 diabetes: What should we be concerned about?

Objective: To identify the level of dietary adherence for particular foods and determine which are challenging for patients with diabetes in Indonesia, as well as the associated factors. Methods: This study was conducted in a primary health care facility, using a cross-sectional design. Diabetic patients who had received dietary education, agreed to participate, and adult age were invited. All patients with type 1, gestational, and other types of diabetes who did not join regular meetings of Prolanis and were reported moving or dying were excluded. The data collection used demographic and perceived dietary adherence questionnaires (PDAQs). Moreover, the height, weight, and blood glucose level were recorded. Data were analyzed using Pearson, point biserial correlation, and one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) tests. Results: The respondents were mostly female, married, and non-smoking with a mean age of 60.2 ± 8.48 years. Mean score for dietary adherence was 29.7 ± 8.85 with scores from the specific food groups between 0.72 ± 1.89 and 4.60 ± 2.30. The lower scores of adherence were identified on low-sugar foods, high-fiber foods, fish and foods with high omega-3, and olive/organic oils in cooking. Additionally, people living with diabetes for more than 10 years and not having any comorbidity showed a higher score of dietary adherence. Conclusions: There were 4 groups of foods that had a low score of adherence. Accordingly, health care providers working in primary health care should be concerned about those 4 food groups during diabetes education and counseling. Public health workers should make more efforts to promote consumption of the healthy diet among patients with diabetes, particularly those who have had diabetes for less than 10 years and other comorbidities.