Compliance to Personalized Meal Plan among Out-Patients with Chronic Diseases at Kwara State University Teaching Hospital, Nigeria

Nutrition plays a vital role in the management of chronic diseases such as hypertension and diabetes, which are increasingly prevalent in local communities. Personalized nutrition through meal plans tailored to an individual’s dietary needs, lifestyle, and overall wellbeing has become an essential strategy for improving health outcomes. This study investigated compliance with personalized meal plans among out-patients in Kwara State University Teaching Hospital, Nigeria. The study was guided by four (4) research questions and one hypothesis and adopted a descriptive survey design. From a population size of five hundred and forty-five (545), one hundred and twenty (120) out-patients were purposively selected for the study. Data were elicited with a well-structured questionnaire titled ‘Personalized Meal Plan Questionnaire (PMPQ)’ using a five-point Likert scale. Both descriptive and inferential statistics, including frequency counts, mean, standard deviation, and Pearson Product Moment Correlation (PPMC) at 0.05 level of significance and the Statistical software (SPSS version 25) package was used for data analysis. Findings revealed that majority (94.2%) of respondents were middle-aged (above 40 years), with females (55.5%) slightly more represented and a significant proportion (43.3%) had no formal education. The respondents generally acknowledged the benefits of adhering to personalized meal plans which includes improving their overall health (x=4.87) and having control of their eating habits (x=4.17), however, limited access to healthy food options (x=4.19) was a major challenge encountered. Factors that influenced their level of compliance was the ease to follow meal plan (x=4.58) and regular follow up by nutritionist/dietician. The study also found a significant relationship between perceived challenges and benefits of compliance (r = 0.393), as well as between influencing factors and benefits (r = 0.322). The study concludes that personalized meal planning is an effective approach to managing chronic diseases and improving patients’ health status. It recommends intensified follow-up care and nutrition counselling to enhance adherence among out-patients.