Latino beliefs about diabetes

OBJECTIVE - To describe Latino beliefs about diabetes and assess heterogene ity in beliefs across different groups. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS - This study comprised a survey of 161 represen tative Latino adults from four diverse communities: Hartford, Connecticut; Edinburg, Texas; Guadalajara, Mexico; and rural Guatemala. A 130-item quest ionnaire covered causes, symptoms, and treatments for diabetes. Information on demographics and acquaintanceship with someone with diabetes was also c ollected. The cultural consensus model was used to analyze the variation in responses to determine whether the degree of consistency within and betwee n samples was sufficient to warrant aggregation and description as a single set of beliefs. RESULTS - Homogeneous beliefs were present within each of the four samples. Although variability in responses increased significantly from Connecticut to Guatemala (P < 0.00005), there was significant agreement between sample s on the answers (P < 0.0005). Answers tended to be concordant with the bio medical description of diabetes. Greater acculturation, higher educational attainment, and higher diabetes prevalence were associated with greater cul tural know ledge about diabetes. In Connecticut, greater knowledge correlat ed with longer mainland U.S. residency (P < 0.05). in Mexico, those with av erage educational attainment knew more (P < 0.05). Finally average knowledg e levels were higher in communities with greater diabetes prevalence. CONCLUSIONS - The cultural consensus model facilitated assessment of cultur al beliefs regarding diabetes and diabetes management. Overall, Latino cult ural beliefs about diabetes were concordant with the biomedical model. Vari ation in responses tended to characterize less knowledge or experience with diabetes and not different beliefs.