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APHA Scientific Session and Event Listing

Andrea Merrill, Community Health, Tufts University, 7 Briar Cliff Drive, Wilbraham, MA 01095, 413-531-1808, andrea.merrill@tufts.edu, Mark Woodin, ScD, Civil & Environmental Engineering, Tufts University, 200 College Avenue, Anderson Hall, Tufts University, Medford, MA 02155, and Francisco Trilla, MD, Atrvea Health Care, 770 Center Street, Boston, MA 02130.

The incidence of Type II diabetes is increasing in the US, especially in Hispanics. Patients must be knowledgeable about their disease because controlling Type II diabetes requires disciplined self-management and self-care. To assess how well Hispanic Type II diabetes patients understand their condition, surveys were given to 53 adult Hispanic patients with Type II diabetes at a clinic specializing in Hispanic health services. The survey questions assessed diabetes knowledge and dietary and exercise habits of the participants. Females comprised 66% of the participants. On diabetes knowledge, 24.5% of participants answered that they knew what a hemoglobin A1C value was, 13.2% gave the correct target A1C value, 49.1% knew what type of diabetes he or she had, and 71.7% reported using a glucometer with 30.2% testing their blood sugar 2-3 times a day. Diet and exercise were identified as important by 81.1% of the subjects. The connection between family history and diabetes risk was known by 71.7% of participants, 96.2% of patients believed that diabetes can cause death, and 98.1% of patients believed that diabetes can harm your kidneys or eyes. In this population of Hispanic diabetic patients, the overall level of diabetes knowledge is poor. This is of even more concern given that these patients attend a clinic specializing in Hispanic health services. Traditional explanations such as language barriers and cultural misunderstandings may not be factors in this study. Improvement in the knowledge base of Hispanic diabetic patients is necessary.

Learning Objectives:

• Understand the importance of diabetes knowledge in the self-management of diabetes.
• Learn the percentage of Type II diabetic patients who know important facts about their condition.
• Gain an understanding of the knowledge base of urban Hispanic Type II diabetics attending a clinic focusing on Hispanic health care.

Keywords: Hispanic, Diabetes

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Not Answered