Effects of Quantified Tableware Use on Dietary Intakes and Quality of Life among Type 2 Diabetes Patients
Authors: Tsai Chia‐Ying , Tsai Wan‐Rong , Leung Ching‐Hsiang , Liu Sung‐Chen , Hsu Pi‐Hua , Tzeng Min Su 
Published: November 2023

Diabetes mellitus (DM) was on the top fifth leading cause of death in Taiwan, 2014. The prevalence rates are also increasing in recent years. Diet management is one of the most important strategies to control diabetes. Recent studies show that DM patients, who have good control of DM, also have better quality of life. Taiwanese Association of Diabetes Educators developed a set of portion size quantified tableware to assist DM patients to have an easier way to control their food consumption. The purpose of the present study was to assess the effects of quantified tableware use on quality of life among type 2 DM patients. Totally 94 adult type 2 DM patients were recruited from Diabetes Shared Care Network, Mackay Memorial Hospital in Taipei. Patients were randomly assigned to experiment and control groups. Both groups were treated following national diabetes care guidelines. The control group received original scheduled dietary consultations. Besides the original dietary consultations, the experiment group also received instructions of quantified tableware usage and was gifted one set of quantified tableware to use. Blood pressure and biochemical indices, such as HbA1c, cholesterol, triglyceride, LDL‐C, and HDL‐C, were obtained from medical chart. Dietary intakes were assessed by using a validated food frequency questionnaire. World Health Organization Quality of Life‐BREF (WHOQOL‐BREF) was used to evaluate DM patients' quality of life. The scale has been translated into Chinese, and the study of reliability and validity was performed. Blood pressure, biochemical indices, dietary intakes, and quality of life were assessed at baseline and 6 months after recruitment. Biochemical indices, caloric intakes, and macronutrients intakes were not different between two groups at baseline and after 6 months of intervention. However, there were significant statistical decreases of caloric, carbohydrate, protein, and lipid intakes in experiment group. At baseline, scores of quality of life were not significantly different between two groups. After combining quality of life data of two groups, those who met HbA1c, blood pressure, and cholesterol control criteria (ABC control) had better quality of life. After 6 months of using quantified tableware, the experiment group had 6.98 points higher on social relationships domain of quality of life than the control group (p=0.009). Among social relationships domain, “personal relationships” had the biggest effect which followed by “social support” and “being respected and accepted”. The results of present study showed that type 2 DM patients who have good biochemical control would have better quality of life. Although the effect on biochemical indices were not found after 6 month use of quantified tableware, the calorie and three macronutrients intakes were decreased in the experiment group. Also, the use of quantified tableware would enhance the social relationships domain of quality of life.