Abstract
Prediabetes afflicts more than five million Canadians (Public Health Agency of Canada, 2014) and is characterized by impaired glucose regulation that increases the risk of developing type 2 diabetes (T2D). People with chronic conditions, including T2D, often experience negative reactions about their condition. These experiences can compromise self-regulatory efforts to manage illness through lifestyle behaviours. Although research surrounding people's experiences of living with T2D has been conducted, less is known about how individuals respond when they learn they are at-risk for T2D. Receptivity of prediabetes status is of relevance to managing lifestyle behaviours, as behavioural modification at this stage can prevent disease progression to T2D. The purpose of this study was to explore how people who learn that they are at-risk for T2D (prediabetic) process, react to and experience this information. Seven adults (Mage= 58.57, SD = 2.64; 6 female, 1 male) engaged in an in-depth, semi-structured interview (M = 56 min). Interpretative phenomenological analysis (Smith & Osborn, 2007) was used to analyze the data using an inductive approach. Five themes emerged from the data related to the study purpose: (a) distress and concern, (b) downplay and lack of knowledge of T2D risks, (c) attributions to and guilt for past behaviour, (d) self-criticism, and (e) common humanity. Findings suggest that people experience negative reactions related to their T2D risk but also exhibit self-compassionate responses. These findings can inform lifestyle behaviour change programs for individuals living with pre-diabetes by providing a better understanding of the patient's perspectives of disease diagnosis.
