A Study On Lifestyle And Self-management In Patients With Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease

Objective The aim of this study was to describe the relationship between nonalcoholic fatty liver disease(NAFLD) and the lifestyle, and to explore the deep profound reasons of self-management in patients with NAFLD.Method(1) Cross-sectional study. A total of 436 cases(205 NAFLD patients and 231 general population), who conducted the physical examinations were investigated by the self-designed questionnaire. Statistical description and single factor analysis were used for demographic data and the characteristics of lifestyle of both NAFLD patients and general population, whilst structural equation model was built based on known theories and the current survey data.(2) Qualitative research. 12 patients with NAFLD were interviewed by purpose sampling method, and Colaizzi’s classic phenomenological method was used for data analysis.Result(1) The result of single factor analysis indicated that the proportion of the patients with NAFLD who at the age of 31 ~ 45 years was the largest(40.5%); the proportion of men with NAFLD were larger than women. The Body Mass Index( BMI) of the patients with NAFLD was(25.64± 3.30)kg/m2, and the proportion of patients who were obese or overweight was 66.3%. There were significant differences between the patients with NAFLD and the general population on those of work-form, doing housework, the frequency of doing physical exercise, smoking, and the frequency of eating midnight snack, sweetmeat, vegetable, fruit, drinking milk/acidophilus milk and dining out. Comparing with the general population, the frequency of eating midnight snack, sweetmeat, dining out of the patients with NAFLD were much higher, and the frequency of eating vegetable, fruit, drinking milk/acidophilus milk were lower.(2) The model fitted well. As the model indicted, the factors which had direct effects on the NAFLD included BMI, poor dietary habit and good dietary habit, smoking. The total effect values were-0.444,-0.156, 0.185,-0.088 respectively. Indirect effect between behavioral pattern and the NAFLD existed, and the BMI was the mediator between them.(3) Three themes including individual factors, the influence of conditions and self-management behaviors were extracted about the self-management of patients with NAFLD.Conclusion There were some characteristics about NAFLD patients’ lifestyle such as less daily activity, unreasonable dietary habit. In order to controlling the NAFLD, controlling weight by changing behavioral pattern was necessary as well as adjusting the diet structure and smoking cessationwas necessary. The self-management of NAFLD patients was in poor condition, and it was influenced by personal factors(i.e., cognitive and attitude towards disease) and conditional factors(i.e., environment, conditions).