Abstract:
The study on Factors Influencing Adherence to Dietary Regimen of Diabetic patients
among adults in Luapula, Zambia is a descriptive design. It utilized convenience and
purposive sampling using 40 females and 40 males sample sizes. The results indicated
that most of the respondents had college certificates and diplomas with some either
employed, self- employed while others are retired and not employed. The age ranges
from 10 years old to 70 years and above. The level of adherence to dietary regimen of
diabetic patients had an overall mean of 1.824 which was adhering moderately. The
factors that influence the adherence of diabetic patients to their dietary regimen were
found to be as follows: cultural factor 3.17 mean, knowledge mean 3.14, dietary
practice mean 2.965, family support mean 2.950, economic factor mean 2.900,
attitude factor mean 2.875 which means that the overall influence of these different
factors was moderately influencing adherence to dietary regimen. The religious
influence allowed them to follow the prescribed diet with a mean of 3.625 which
indicated that it highly influenced the dietary regimen. The patients had a high attitude
influence in the way they controlled their diet. There was a significant difference
when the moderator variable gender was tested with ANOVA. Male patients were
higher in terms of adherence to dietary regimen compared to female patients. The
educational attainment also showed a significant difference with the influencing
factors. The higher the educational attainment of diabetic patients, the higher their
compliance with adhering their dietary regimen. The adherence to dietary regimen
was highly influenced by educational attainment. Patients who had more education
had better knowledge on how to follow healthy diet plan than those who had less
education. The difference was significant at 0.01 level and therefore the hypothesis
showed that there was no significant difference between influencing factors and the
moderator variables was rejected.
