Diabetes knowledge in patients' adult offspring

Adult children of people with type 2 diabetes have a greater risk of developing the condition than the general population. To understand what this at-risk group knows about the disease and to explore what types of education they feel will help improve their understanding of it. A qualitative study was carried out using semi-structured, one-to-one interviews from January until March 2011 with six adult children of patients diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. Participants attempted to estimate their risk of developing the disease by weighing up the positive and negative aspects of their lifestyle behaviour. They had adequate knowledge of healthy lifestyle behaviour but were uncertain about the long-term effects and seriousness of type 2 diabetes and the role of inheritance. They suggested changing their behaviour would only be motivated by an event that had a direct negative impact on their own health and believed "fear"-based health promotion strategies would be the most effective way to change the behaviour of others at risk. Participants' knowledge of their individual risk and why diabetes was serious was poor. The health behaviours of this at-risk group were complicated. Nurses caring for patients at risk of developing type 2 diabetes must take this complexity into account when developing and implementing ways to improve awareness and knowledge.