Department of Nursing, Tzu Chi University, Hualien 970374, Taiwan.
Charity Development Department, Tzu Chi Charity Foundation, Hualien 971067, Taiwan.
Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2023 Jan 31;20(3):2547. doi: 10.3390/ijerph20032547.
Metabolic syndrome is characterized by cardiovascular and chronic disease risk factors that cause health problems. Inequalities in medical resources and information present a challenge in this context. Indigenous communities may be unaware of their risk for metabolic syndrome.
This study explored factors associated with metabolic syndrome-related knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors among Taiwanese indigenous communities.
For this descriptive cross-sectional survey, we collected anthropometric data and used a self-administered questionnaire between 1 July 2016, to 31 July 2017, from a convenience sample of an indigenous tribe in eastern Taiwan. The response rate was 92%.
The prevalence of metabolic syndrome was as high as 71%, and the average correct knowledge rate was 39.1%. The participants' self-management attitudes were mainly negative, and the self-management behaviors were low in this population. Stepwise regression analysis showed that knowledge, attitude, age, perception of physical condition, and body mass index, which accounted for 65% of the total variance, were the most predictive variables for self-management behaviors.
This is the first study to report the relationship between metabolic syndrome knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors in an indigenous population. There is an urgent need to develop safety-based MetS health education programs that can provide access to the right information and enhance self-management approaches to lessen the growing burden of MetS in indigenous communities.
代谢综合征的特征是心血管和慢性疾病风险因素，这些因素会导致健康问题。在这种情况下，医疗资源和信息的不平等是一个挑战。原住民社区可能不知道自己患代谢综合征的风险。
本研究探讨了与台湾原住民社区代谢综合征相关知识、态度和行为相关的因素。
本研究采用描述性横断面调查，于 2016 年 7 月 1 日至 2017 年 7 月 31 日，对台湾东部一个原住民部落进行了方便抽样，收集了人体测量数据和自我管理问卷。应答率为 92%。
代谢综合征的患病率高达 71%，平均正确知识率为 39.1%。参与者的自我管理态度主要为负面，该人群的自我管理行为较低。逐步回归分析显示，知识、态度、年龄、身体状况感知和体重指数占总方差的 65%，是自我管理行为的最具预测性变量。
这是第一项报告原住民人群代谢综合征知识、态度和行为之间关系的研究。迫切需要制定基于安全的代谢综合征健康教育计划，提供正确的信息，并增强自我管理方法，以减轻代谢综合征在原住民社区日益增加的负担。
