title: Perceptions of culturally competent diabetes management in a primary care practice.
abstract: To evaluate whether clinicians consider the impact of culture on diabetes management, a survey was mailed to 300 randomly selected patients > or = 50 years with type 2 diabetes and 153 surveys were returned. Data were correlated with A1C values. African Americans (AA) and non-Hispanic whites (NHW), (91.9%, 97.0%) respectively, reported clinicians discussed benefits of controlling blood sugar but did not discuss effects of cultural issues on glucose control (< or = 50%). AAs perceived clinicians were more accommodating of their cultural preferences than did NHWs (49.2% versus 30.6%) (P < .05). Females (51.9%) (P < .01) reported that clinicians acknowledged the importance of their cultural beliefs with a slightly higher percentage for African American females (54.8%) versus non-Hispanic White females (48.6%). Understanding the patient's and clinician's views of cultural beliefs as they relate to diabetes self-management can provide perspectives to guide care.
authors.forename: Julienne K
authors.initials: JK
authors.lastname: Kirk
authors.forename: Carol
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Hildebrandt
authors.forename: Stephen
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Davis
authors.forename: Sonia J
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Crandall
authors.forename: Alissa B
authors.initials: AB
authors.lastname: Siciliano
authors.forename: Gail S
authors.initials: GS
authors.lastname: Marion
mesh_terms: D001741:Black or African American / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D000368:Aged; D001294:Attitude to Health / Q000208:ethnology*; D003466:Cultural Characteristics; D003924:Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 / Q000208:ethnology / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy*; D019468:Disease Management; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000208:ethnology / Q000517:prevention & control; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009765:Obesity / Q000208:ethnology / Q000517:prevention & control; D010342:Patient Acceptance of Health Care / Q000208:ethnology*; D012648:Self Care / Q000379:methods; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology; D044465:White People / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*