Developing personas for nutritional self-management in nasopharyngeal carcinoma patients: a qualitative study based on the Fogg Behavior Model

Purpose Malnutrition is common throughout the course of nasopharyngeal carcinoma and requires long-term self-management. Current standardized nutritional management models struggle to meet the diverse needs of patients. This study aimed to identify the behavioral characteristics and influencing factors of nutritional self-management among patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma and to develop user personas. Methods This study was conducted from July to September 2025 in a cancer hospital in Chongqing, China, and patients were recruited using purposive sampling. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews. Directed content analysis was conducted in NVivo 15, with themes organized inductively under the Fogg Behavior Model framework (motivation, ability, prompt). The process sequentially involved marking meaning units, extracting factual labels, and constructing dimension models. Personas were developed by categorizing patients based on these dimensions. Results A total of 21 patients were enrolled, and a label framework spanning five dimensions was developed, including motivation, ability, prompt, psychological state, and family support. Five typical behavioral personas were identified: proactive managers, symptom-driven active managers, survival-driven passive copers, cognition-behavior disconnected individuals, and family-led passive compliers. Conclusion Nutritional self-management behaviors in patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma exhibit significant heterogeneity. Precise, personalized interventions can be provided based on patient personas. In the future, a nutritional management system could be developed based on personas, enabling dynamic updates to these personas to enhance the accuracy of interventions.