The Sociological Explanation for Prevention Model of Lifestyle Diseases; a Grounded Theory Study

Background & aim:

Lifestyle diseases kill 41 million people yearly, equivalent to 71% of all deaths globally. Studies have shown that increasing level of inappropriate nutrition, substance abuse, physical inactivity and stress in lifestyles underlies these diseases; This study aimed to identify the effective factors on increasing level of risk factors and unhealthily of Iranian lifestyles and then to provide a strategic model to prevent their occurrence and prevalence.

The research method was qualitative grounded theory which conducted with participation of 14 experts from different disciplines who were purposefully selected. The data were collected based on theoretical sampling by in-depth interview and were analyzed by continuous comparison method and theoretical coding in strauss and corbin's systematic paradigm (1998). Its validity and reliability were obtained by referring the findings to data and the results to specialists.

Socio-pathology of Iranian lifestyles from the experts' point of view provided 216 concepts and 37 sub-categories, and finally the following 10 main categories, explaining the weaknesses of society in establishing healthy lifestyles were obtained: Education, Upbringing, Propagation, Financing, Facilitation, Prescription, Gathering, Obedience, and Assurance dimensions. The "unhealthily of lifestyles" was selected as the central phenomenon and ten categories were related to it in two groups of contextual and interferer conditions, and finally decuple strategic model was presented.

Prevention of lifestyle diseases requires attention to structural and individual aspects of lifestyle. The first seven strategies focused in the macrolevel on social structures, the eighth strategy in the Intermediate level on family, and the ninth strategy in the microlevel on human factors. The tenth strategy represents a research proposal to establish an organization between structure and agency to measure and monitor the health status of Iranian lifestyles toward healthy lifestyle.