THE RELIABILITY OF THE DIABETES CARE PROFILE FOR AFRICAN-AMERICANS

The Diabetes Care Profile (DCP) is an instrument used to assess social and psychological factors related to diabetes and its treatment The r eliability of the DCP,var established in populations consisting primar ily of Caucasians with type 2 diabetes. This study tests whether the D CP is a reliable instrument for African Americans with type 2 diabetes . Both African American (n = 511) and Caucasian (n = 235) patients wit h type 2 diabetes were recruited at six sites located in the metropoli tan Detroit area Scale reliability war calculated by Cronbach's coeffi cient alpha The scale reliabilities ranged from .70 to .97 for African Americans. These reliabilities were similar to those of Caucasians, w hose scale reliabilities ranged from .68 to .96 The Feldt test was use d to determine differences between the reliabilities of the two patien t populations. No significant differences were found. The DCP is a rel iable survey instrument for African American and Caucasion patients wi th type 2 diabetes.