Causes Of Desertion Of Diabetes Preventive Programs Aimed At Relatives Of Patients With Type 2 Diabetes

Abstract

Purpose: First-degree family members of patients with type 2 diabetes have a higher risk of developing diabetes. Attendance in a diabetes prevention program is essential to implement prevention strategies. However, many relatives drop out. Identifying the causes behind the program abandonment is necessary to improve attendance adherence. Methods: We reviewed six different databases for causes of treatment abandonment in prevention programs for type 2 diabetes published between 1980 and 2020. Eleven articles met inclusion criteria and varied in sample size, ethnicity, gender, age of the participating patients, and length of follow-up. Causes of abandonment were categorized into social, biological, lifestyle, and emotional. Results: Sample sizes of the selected studies ranged from 143 to 128,520 subjects. The main barriers were age, economic difficulties, ignorance about risk factors, family history of diabetes, living in public housing, marital status, comorbidities, and low consumption of fruits and vegetables. Physicians' attitudes toward prediabetes screening were also a barrier. Conclusion: People at risk of developing diabetes face multiple barriers to preventing the development of this disease. During the research, the variety of reasons causing dropouts in prevention programs was great and diverse.