Sociodemographic factors and self-management practices related to type 2 diabetes among Hispanics and non-Hispanic whites in a rural setting.
BACKGROUND
Hispanics in the United States have a higher prevalence of non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (type 2 diabetes) and experience more complications for the disease than non-Hispanic whites. Differences in medical management or self-management practices may, in part, explain the relative high risk for diabetes complications among Hispanics.


OBJECTIVE
Using data from a community-randomized intervention study on cancer prevention, we examined the medical management and self-management practices of Hispanics and non-Hispanic whites who have diabetes.


METHODS
Locally hired bilingual personnel conducted in-person interviews of a random selection of 1,863 adults in 20 communities in the Yakima Valley of eastern Washington State.


RESULTS
A total of 70 Hispanics (11% age-adjusted prevalence) and 87 non-Hispanic whites (7.3% age-adjusted prevalence) reported having type 2 diabetes. Hispanics with a high level of acculturation were slightly more likely to have diabetes, compared to those with a low level of acculturation, though the association was nonsignificant. Hispanics were significantly less likely than non-Hispanic whites to treat their diabetes with diet and exercise (36% vs 61.3%; P < or = .001). Annual eye examinations were less commonly reported among Hispanics (48.9%) than among non-Hispanic whites (72.7%).


CONCLUSIONS
Our data indicate that Hispanics engage less frequently in self-management practices to control diabetes than non-Hispanic whites.
Coronado
Gloria D
GD
Cancer Prevention Program, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, WA 98109, USA. gcoronad@fhcrc.org
Thompson
Beti
B
Tejeda
Silvia
S
Godina
Ruby
R
Chen
Lu
L
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D003924:Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 / Q000150:complications / Q000208:ethnology* / Q000628:therapy; D005260:Female; D015438:Health Behavior / Q000208:ethnology*; D006297:Health Services Accessibility / Q000458:organization & administration / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006630:Hispanic or Latino / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010342:Patient Acceptance of Health Care / Q000208:ethnology*; D015995:Prevalence; D011320:Primary Health Care; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012423:Rural Health / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D019035:Rural Health Services / Q000458:organization & administration / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012648:Self Care / Q000379:methods*; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014861:Washington / Q000453:epidemiology; D044465:White People / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*