The preferences of young adults with Type 1 diabetes at clinics using a discrete choice experiment approach: the D1 Now Study.

AIM: Attending routine outpatient clinic appointments is a central self-management behaviour of individuals living with Type 1 diabetes. A large number of young adults with Type 1 diabetes disengage from diabetes services, which may contribute to poor psychosocial and diabetes outcomes. The aim of this study is to elicit preferences from young adults with Type 1 diabetes regarding clinic-related services to inform service delivery. METHODS: A discrete choice experiment was developed to understand the preferences of young adults with Type 1 diabetes for clinic-related services. RESULTS: Young adults recruited from young adult Type 1 diabetes clinics in 2016 completed the experiment (n = 105). Young adults with Type 1 diabetes showed a preference for shorter waiting times, seeing a nurse and a consultant, relative to a nurse alone, and a flexible booking system compared with fixed appointment times. Results suggest no preference for a nurse and a doctor, relative to a nurse alone, or other optional services (e.g. seeing dietitians or psychologists), type of HbA1c test and digital blood glucose diaries over paper-based diaries. CONCLUSION: This study highlights aspects of routine clinic appointments that are valued by young adults living with Type 1 diabetes, namely shorter waiting times at clinic, the option to see both a nurse and consultant at each visit and a flexible clinic appointment booking system. These findings suggest young adults with Type 1 diabetes value convenience and should help services to restructure their clinics to be more responsive to the needs of young adults.

Perceived barriers towards healthy eating and their association with fruit and vegetable consumption.

Background: Improving dietary intakes is a key public health target. Perceived barriers to healthy eating (PBHE) are an important component of the Health Belief Model which aims to understand why individuals do not adopt preventive health measures. This study investigates the relationship between PBHE and reported fruit and vegetable (F&V) consumption. Methods: Data from the Scottish Health Survey 2008-11 (n = 8319) for PBHE and self-reported F&V consumption were used in Probit regression models to test the association between meeting the 400 g per day F&V recommendation and PBHE. Results: Regression models show women who reported a lack of cooking skills were 10.4% less likely to meet the F&V recommendations (P = 0.001). Not liking the taste of healthy foods or finding them too boring (10.2%, P = 0.022), preparation time (5.6%, P = 0.020) or willpower (3.0%, P = 0.021) were also significant. For men, reporting not liking the taste of healthy foods or finding them too boring (6.8%, P = 0.02) was the only significant result. Price, a commonly reported PBHE, was not significantly associated with F&V consumption. Conclusions: Not all commonly reported perceived barriers to healthy eating are significantly associated with meeting the recommended F&V intake.