Table 3 Qualitative themes and sub-categories
Major themes | Categories | Sub-categories | Excerpts from the patients’ narratives |
|---|---|---|---|
Factors affecting NCD preventive behaviours | Positive factors/facilitators Fear of premature health Experience of illness Familial inheritance of diseases Education level of the patient | Contributing actions Medication compliance Follow-ups/checkups Diet Regimen Self-monitoring | “I never miss my medications, they are most important to me” “My father had diabetes; I knew I will get it, so I had already controlled my intake of sugar” |
Negative factors/barriers Inadequate health education Health care system constraints Knowledge deficit Lack of insight about seriousness of disease No symptoms = no risk Invincibility/lack of threat appreciation Unpredictability of disease Fatalism Finance Cost of fresh food, vegetables and unsaturated oil | Contributing actions No regular screening Cost of the diagnostic tests Inability to interpret numeric values Self-medication Cholesterol screening not considered risk NCD diagnosed while seeking help for other medical conditions Sudden onset of acute events NCD are unpreventable Proactive help-seeking not a priority | “10 years ago, at the time of diagnosis, I did not know how much blood pressure was high, and how much was low. I learnt it over time, when I went through its fluctuating levels “ “I stopped my medications after angioplasty for 2 years…had another heart attack and had a By- pass then” “I check BP and sugar regularly because alterations in it make me nonfunctional” |