Study design and period
A retrospective cross-sectional study was carried out among individuals who had or are currently following the IF. In the four-week preparation period, we created our study title, reviewed the literature to gather information on typical side effects and how to measure the quality of life, and created a questionnaire. In the following four weeks, we completed our research, which included looking for the target group on social media, creating a Google Form for the survey, and testing the form by using a small sample of the findings to make sure they presented as we planned. We collected and examined our data for a further four weeks before writing our report.
Inclusion and exclusion criteria
The study includes people who have ever practiced or are currently practicing IF and who can speak the Arabic language. The target population is in Saudi Arabia in all regions of the kingdom. The initial assessment questions excluded participants who had never engaged in IF. The sample size was calculated automatically using Google Forms. A total of 300 people were registered in the Google Form; 147 of them had practiced IF, and 153 were excluded.
Data collection tool
We developed a questionnaire in Arabic to collect data about IF attitudes and quality of life (questionnaire in the Appendices section). The questionnaire was developed to meet the health-related quality of life (HRQOL) measures, which were translated into Arabic to be suitable for the participant's understanding of the question in our survey. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) HRQOL-4 measures had acceptable test-retest reliability and strong internal validity, which has been used by the CDC and its partners, for tracking population health status and HRQOL measures in states and communities [8 ]. The standard four-item set of healthy days’ core questions was developed by the CDC. The questionnaire consists of the following four main parts: (i) sociodemographic data, (ii) side effects assessment, (iii) participants' attitude toward IF assessment, and (iv) participants' quality of life assessment.
Data collection technique
We conducted the survey in an electronic self-assessment format using Google Forms. We targeted IF groups on social media in Saudi Arabia for a time interval of four weeks through messages and direct contact with the group administrator and ensured that only people who practiced IF participated in the survey. One of the first questions in the survey was “Have you tried Intermittent fasting?” If the answer was no, then the participant is excluded from the survey. The data obtained from the survey were reviewed and automatically copied into a personal computer.
Data entry and analysis
The data collected using the questionnaire was rearranged in Microsoft Excel data sheets. The data was mainly expressed as numbers and percentages. We used a chi-square test to evaluate participants’ perceived happiness, which also indicated the p-value for statistical significance. We also used a pie chart that displays the change in the participants’ body weight following their adoption of IF and to seek the perceived happiness of the participants' IF experience.
Ethical considerations
This study was approved by the Bioethics Committee for Scientific and Medical Research at the University of Jeddah (Approval number UJ-REC-069). Individual consent was required prior to data collection, and it was stated on the questionnaire's front page that completing it signified consent to participate in the study. All information was kept private and was solely utilized for scientific studies. Furthermore, we made sure that parental consent was given to participants less than 18 years old.
A retrospective cross-sectional study was carried out among individuals who had or are currently following the IF. In the four-week preparation period, we created our study title, reviewed the literature to gather information on typical side effects and how to measure the quality of life, and created a questionnaire. In the following four weeks, we completed our research, which included looking for the target group on social media, creating a Google Form for the survey, and testing the form by using a small sample of the findings to make sure they presented as we planned. We collected and examined our data for a further four weeks before writing our report.
Inclusion and exclusion criteria
The study includes people who have ever practiced or are currently practicing IF and who can speak the Arabic language. The target population is in Saudi Arabia in all regions of the kingdom. The initial assessment questions excluded participants who had never engaged in IF. The sample size was calculated automatically using Google Forms. A total of 300 people were registered in the Google Form; 147 of them had practiced IF, and 153 were excluded.
Data collection tool
We developed a questionnaire in Arabic to collect data about IF attitudes and quality of life (questionnaire in the Appendices section). The questionnaire was developed to meet the health-related quality of life (HRQOL) measures, which were translated into Arabic to be suitable for the participant's understanding of the question in our survey. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) HRQOL-4 measures had acceptable test-retest reliability and strong internal validity, which has been used by the CDC and its partners, for tracking population health status and HRQOL measures in states and communities [8 ]. The standard four-item set of healthy days’ core questions was developed by the CDC. The questionnaire consists of the following four main parts: (i) sociodemographic data, (ii) side effects assessment, (iii) participants' attitude toward IF assessment, and (iv) participants' quality of life assessment.
Data collection technique
We conducted the survey in an electronic self-assessment format using Google Forms. We targeted IF groups on social media in Saudi Arabia for a time interval of four weeks through messages and direct contact with the group administrator and ensured that only people who practiced IF participated in the survey. One of the first questions in the survey was “Have you tried Intermittent fasting?” If the answer was no, then the participant is excluded from the survey. The data obtained from the survey were reviewed and automatically copied into a personal computer.
Data entry and analysis
The data collected using the questionnaire was rearranged in Microsoft Excel data sheets. The data was mainly expressed as numbers and percentages. We used a chi-square test to evaluate participants’ perceived happiness, which also indicated the p-value for statistical significance. We also used a pie chart that displays the change in the participants’ body weight following their adoption of IF and to seek the perceived happiness of the participants' IF experience.
Ethical considerations
This study was approved by the Bioethics Committee for Scientific and Medical Research at the University of Jeddah (Approval number UJ-REC-069). Individual consent was required prior to data collection, and it was stated on the questionnaire's front page that completing it signified consent to participate in the study. All information was kept private and was solely utilized for scientific studies. Furthermore, we made sure that parental consent was given to participants less than 18 years old.
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