Abstract

ANTUN, María Cecilia et al. Factors that have an impact on adherence to gluten-free diet in celiac adults in Buenos Aires City. Diaeta [online]. 2017, vol.35, n.161, pp.10-18. ISSN 1852-7337.

Introduction: the gluten-free diet (GFD) is the only available treatment for celiac disease (CD). The objective of this work is to describe the perspectives of the users of CD services given by the Directorate-General for Health Development (DGHD) with respect to the fulfillment of GFD. Materials and Method: cross-sectional study. Between September 2015 and December 2016 self-reported surveys were carried out on people diagnosed with CD, also users of the services given by DGHD. Results: 271 people (89.3% female; 10.9% male) participated in the survey. The majority presented high (43.2%) or middle (54.6%) level of education and resided in Buenos Aires City (71.6%). 78.6% had carried out at least one CD control in the previous 12 months and 77.8% had previously consulted with a nutritionist regarding GFD. 28.4% participated in some CD association, which was the most reliable source of information (61.9%), followed by doctors (58.7%) and nutritionists (51.2%). The official symbol was the most common strategy used to identify gluten-free products. Eating out and traveling were the situations which entailed the greatest difficulties for GFD fulfillment, and the cost of gluten-free products was perceived as an obstacle. With respect to the perception upon the level of adherence to the GFD, 71.8% of participants considered they totally adhered. When describing the feelings originated as a consequence of GFD, the most mentioned were acceptance, pleasure, wellbeing, anger, helplessness, disorder and exhaustion (45.3% were terms associated with positive feelings and 54.7%, with negative feelings). Conclusions: GFD entails difficulties in people with CD. Obtaining insight on the perceptions and strategies followed in order to fulfill the diet is of great use in the design of interventions.

Keywords : Celiac Disease; Gluten-Free Diet; Treatment difficulties; Adherence to diet; Adults.

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