This study will examine self-care management for diabetes-related symptoms in Mexican-Americans with type 2 diabetes. Mexican-Americans are two to three times more likely to develop type 2 diabetes mellitus than non-Hispanic whites due to a genetic predisposition and lifestyle influences. Diabetes leads to seriously debilitating long term complications including blindness, amputations, and cardiovascular disease, costly and life threatening complications, which are preventable people with diabetes must make daily decisions about their care in the areas of symptoms, diet, medication, and exercise. Because daily hassles and events can disrupt their routines, it is important to know the factors which influence the way people integrate their diabetes self-care into their daily lives. The study will measure the prevalence of diabetes-related symptoms, the symptom management strategies, diabetes knowledge, physiologic measures of diabetes control, and demographic characteristics of 66 Mexican-Americans with type 2 diabetes mellitus. Follow-up interviews with 20 of these subjects with the best and worse indicators of glycemic control will provide further insight into the process of integrating diabetes self-care. Qualitative data will be examined to compare people who have successfully integrated diabetes self-care with those who have not. RESEARCH PLAN
| Garcia, Alexandra A (2008) Clinical and life quality differences between Mexican American diabetic patients at a free clinic and a hospital-affiliated clinic in Texas. Public Health Nurs 25:149-58 |
