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

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.