The influence of treatment modality and ethnicity on attitudes in type 2 diabetes.
OBJECTIVE
The study examines diabetes attitude differences by treatment modality (insulin vs. no insulin), race/ethnicity, and the interaction of these two variables for people with type 2 diabetes.


METHODS
Data were collected with the Diabetes Care Profile (DCP), an instrument that assesses psychosocial factors related to diabetes. Participants (n = 672) were recruited in the metropolitan Detroit, Michigan, area from 1993 to 1996. A total of 68% of these participants were African-Americans with type 2 diabetes, and 32% were Caucasians with type 2 diabetes. Analyses of covariance were performed to examine the effects of race/ethnicity, treatment, and their interaction for each DCP scale.


RESULTS
The four patient categories (two ethnicities by two treatment modalities) differed by age, years with diabetes, education, and sex distribution. Treatment modality had a significant effect on 6 of the 16 DCP scales (Control, Social and Personal Factors, Positive Attitude, Negative Attitude, Self-Care Ability, and Exercise Barriers). Ethnicity was a significant effect for three scales (Control, Support, and Support Attitudes). The interaction of race/ethnicity and treatment modality was a significant effect for two related attitude scales (Positive Attitude and Negative Attitude).


CONCLUSIONS
The results suggest that attitudes toward diabetes are similar for African-American and Caucasian patients with type 2 diabetes. The results also suggest that treatment modality has a greater effect on attitudes than either race/ethnicity or the interaction effect. However, Caucasian patients using insulin differed from the other patient groups by having the least positive and the most negative attitudes regarding diabetes.
Fitzgerald
J T
JT
Department of Medical Education, the University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor 48109-0201, USA. tfitz@umich.edu
Gruppen
L D
LD
Anderson
R M
RM
Funnell
M M
MM
Jacober
S J
SJ
Grunberger
G
G
Aman
L C
LC
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001741:Black or African American / Q000523:psychology*; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001294:Attitude to Health; D044383:Black People; D003431:Cross-Cultural Comparison; D003924:Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000523:psychology* / Q000628:therapy*; D015444:Exercise; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007328:Insulin / Q000627:therapeutic use; D008297:Male; D008824:Michigan; D008875:Middle Aged; D012648:Self Care; D014505:Urban Population; D044465:White People / Q000523:psychology*
D007328:Insulin