School of Health and Caring Sciences, Linnaeus University, Växjö, S-351 95 Växjö, Sweden.
BMC Int Health Hum Rights. 2010 May 12;10:7. doi: 10.1186/1472-698X-10-7.
Diabetes mellitus (DM) is increasing globally, with the greatest increase in Africa and Asia. In Zimbabwe a threefold increase was shown in the 1990s. Health-related behaviour is important in maintaining health and is determined by individual beliefs about health and illness but has seen little study. The purpose of the study was to explore beliefs about health and illness that might affect self-care practice and health care seeking behaviour in persons diagnosed with DM, living in Zimbabwe.
Exploratory study. Consecutive sample from a diabetes clinic at a central hospital. Semi-structured interviews were held with 21 persons aged 19-65 years. Data were analysed using qualitative content analysis.
Health was described as freedom from disease and well-being, and individual factors such as compliance with advice received and drugs were considered important to promote health. A mixture of causes of DM, predominantly individual factors such as heredity, overweight and wrong diet in combination with supernatural factors such as fate, punishment from God and witchcraft were mentioned. Most respondents did not recognize the symptoms of DM when falling ill but related the problems to other diseases, e.g. HIV, malaria etc. Limited knowledge about DM and the body was indicated. Poor economy was mentioned as harmful to health and a consequence of DM because the need to buy expensive drugs, food and attend check-ups. Self-care was used to a limited extent but if used, a combination of individual measures, household remedies or herbs and religious acts such as prayers and holy water were frequently used, and in some cases health care professionals were consulted.
Limited knowledge about DM, based on beliefs about health and illness including biomedical and traditional explanations related to the influence of supernatural forces, e.g. fate, God etc., were found, which affected patients' self-care and care-seeking behaviour. Strained economy was stated to be a factor of the utmost importance affecting the management of DM and thus health. To develop cost-effective and optimal diabetes care in a country with limited resources, not only educational efforts based on individual beliefs are needed but also considering systemic and structural conditions in order to promote health and to prevent costly consequences of DM.
糖尿病（DM）在全球范围内呈上升趋势，非洲和亚洲的增幅最大。在津巴布韦，20 世纪 90 年代的增幅达到了三倍。健康相关行为对于保持健康很重要，它由个人对健康和疾病的信念决定，但对其研究甚少。本研究的目的是探索可能影响糖尿病患者自我护理实践和就医行为的健康和疾病信念，这些患者生活在津巴布韦。
探索性研究。连续选取来自一家综合医院糖尿病诊所的患者。对 21 名年龄在 19-65 岁的患者进行半结构式访谈。使用定性内容分析法分析数据。
健康被描述为没有疾病和健康，个人因素如遵守所接受的建议和药物被认为是促进健康的重要因素。糖尿病的主要原因是个体因素，如遗传、超重和错误的饮食，同时还结合了超自然因素，如命运、上帝的惩罚和巫术。大多数受访者在生病时没有意识到糖尿病的症状，但将这些问题与其他疾病联系起来，例如 HIV、疟疾等。研究表明，受访者对糖尿病和身体的知识有限。经济条件差被认为对健康有害，也是糖尿病的后果，因为需要购买昂贵的药物、食物并进行检查。自我护理的应用程度有限，但如果使用，通常会结合个人措施、家庭疗法或草药以及宗教行为，如祈祷和圣水，有时也会咨询卫生保健专业人员。
基于对健康和疾病的信念，包括与超自然力量（如命运、上帝等）有关的生物医学和传统解释，发现了对患者自我护理和就医行为有影响的有限的糖尿病知识。经济拮据被认为是影响糖尿病管理和健康的最重要因素。在资源有限的国家，要制定经济有效的糖尿病护理方案，不仅需要基于个人信念的教育努力，还需要考虑系统性和结构性条件，以促进健康并预防糖尿病的昂贵后果。
