Revealing the Complexity of Health Behavior Change Among Women with Polycystic Ovary Syndrome: A Qualitative Grounded Theory Study.

OBJECTIVE: To explore why and how health behavior change occurs in women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) and aims to generate a grounded theoretical framework that illustrates the stages, along with the influencing factors involved in the stage shifts. DESIGN: Qualitative grounded theory design. SETTING: Tertiary Grade A comprehensive hospitals in Hunan Province, located in Central South China. PARTICIPANTS: The study included 20 patients, 13 doctors, and 4 nurses. INTERVENTION: Not applicable. PHENOMENON OF INTEREST: This study focused on how behavior change occurred and what influenced the change. ANALYSIS: We followed the processes of open coding, axial coding, and selective coding for analyzing the interview data. RESULTS: This theoretical framework outlines the health behavior change using 3 progressive stages (intention, adoption, maintenance) and a dynamic state of disengagement, shaped by the interplay between driving factors (needs generation, cognitive change, intrapsychic resources, external resources, self-regulation, ego identity, and positive feedback) and restraining factors (personal limitations, environmental constraints, disease-related barriers, and behavioral drawbacks). CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS: Our findings provide new insights on health behavior among patients with PCOS and help health care personnel develop tailored intervention strategies based on an individual's stage or status of behavior change.