People living with chronic diseases in southeastern Iran eat better when they practice stronger nutritional self-care and have higher incomes, according to a cross-sectional study of 400 patients in the city of Saravan. The research, published in BMC Nutrition, examined which demographic and behavioral factors shape dietary quality among patients with hypertension, diabetes, or overweight and obesity.
The study ran over six months, from April to October 2023, and enrolled participants through stratified random sampling with equal allocation across the three disease groups. Researchers assessed dietary quality using the validated Persian Mini-EAT tool, gathered demographic information through a structured questionnaire, and measured nutritional self-care with a Nutritional Self-Care Questionnaire. Multiple linear regression was then used to identify which variables predicted dietary quality.
Nutritional self-care emerged as the strongest predictor of dietary quality, with a standardized coefficient of 0.721 and a p-value below 0.001. Income level came second, with a coefficient of 0.345, also statistically significant. Age was a weaker but still significant determinant, with a coefficient of 0.110 and a p-value of 0.012.
Not every factor mattered. Marital status, gender, education, and employment showed no significant impact on dietary quality in this population. The full regression model accounted for a substantial share of the variance in dietary quality, with an R-squared of 0.64, meaning roughly two-thirds of the differences in diet quality among participants were explained by the variables included in the model.
The authors conclude that nutritional self-care and economic status are strongly associated with dietary quality in this group of patients. Because the study is cross-sectional, measuring exposures and outcomes at the same time, causal inferences cannot be drawn.
Despite that limitation, the findings point toward possible intervention targets. The researchers suggest that scalable, culturally adapted self-management education programs could help patients improve their diets, alongside economic support policies such as food subsidies aimed at improving nutritional health in this vulnerable population.
The study’s setting matters for interpretation. All participants were patients with hypertension, diabetes, or overweight and obesity in Saravan, a city in southeastern Iran, so the results may not generalize to other regions, healthier populations, or patients with other chronic conditions.
Future longitudinal or interventional studies would be needed to test whether improving nutritional self-care or household income actually raises dietary quality over time.
Subject of Research: Dietary quality and its demographic and behavioral predictors among patients with chronic diseases in Southeast Iran
Article Title: Assessment of dietary quality and demographic and behavioral factors affecting it in patients with chronic diseases in Southeast Iran
Article References: Jangizehi, Z., & Izadirad, H. (2026). Assessment of dietary quality and demographic and behavioral factors affecting it in patients with chronic diseases in Southeast Iran. BMC Nutrition. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40795-026-01522-x
Image Credits: AI Generated
DOI: 10.1186/s40795-026-01522-x
Keywords: dietary quality, chronic disease, nutritional self-care, Iran, cross-sectional study, hypertension, diabetes, obesity, income, regression analysis, public health nutrition, Assessment
News Source: Daisy Hatcher. (October 29, 2026). Nutritional Self-Care and Income Linked to Better Diets in Iranian Chronic Disease Patients. Scienmag.
