Identifying decision-making biases in self-care behaviours among patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus: A qualitative study from a behavioural economics perspective.

BACKGROUND

Patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus often make self-care behaviour decisions according to their immediate needs and desires in the real world. Deviations from optimal choices in seeking satisfying options are known as decision-making biases, which are not obvious in the self-care behaviours of patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus. Qualitative research can provide insights into patients' descriptions of and experiences in self-care, aiding in systematically identifying decision-making biases.

OBJECTIVE

To identify the decision-making biases of patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus from their descriptions of and experiences in self-care to guide targeted strategies for supplementing existing intervention paradigms.

DESIGN

Qualitative, descriptive design.

PARTICIPANTS

We used purposive sampling to recruit 18 participants with type 2 diabetes mellitus at the endocrinology outpatient unit of a large urban general hospital in Lanzhou, China, between July and September 2023.

METHODS

We conducted individual, semi-structured interviews to identify decision-making biases of self-care behaviours from the behavioural economics perspective. The interviews were transcribed verbatim, and the thematic analysis approach was utilized to code the transcribed data and identify themes.

RESULTS

We found that patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus showed emotion-driven and short-term-oriented decision-making biases regarding self-maintenance. Self-monitoring decisions tend to be personal experiences and based on individual perceptions. Self-management decisions depend heavily on accessibility to and sources of information.

CONCLUSIONS

Decision-making biases clearly impact the self-care behaviours of patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus. We identified 10 decision-making biases related to self-care behaviour maintenance, monitoring, and management, suggesting that future research can leverage these biases to improve the health-related behaviours of patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus.