Self-management practices of Chinese Americans with type 2 diabetes

The purpose of this study was to examine the level of diabetes self-management and its association with demographic and diabetes-related characteristics in Chinese Americans with type 2 diabetes. A questionnaire that measured diabetes self-management and diabetes-related characteristics was administered to a sample of 211 Chinese Americans with type 2 diabetes living in America. The results indicated that the participants were likely to take medications but less likely to carry out diet, physical activity, self-monitoring of blood glucose, and foot care behaviors. Associations between diabetes self-management and demographic and diabetes-related characteristics were observed. For example, individuals who had less education and were employed were less likely to engage in diabetes self-management than those with higher education and who were retired, while individuals who had a longer duration of diabetes and used insulin as a treatment more frequently carried out self-monitoring than those who had a shorter duration of diabetes and used oral hypoglycemic agents. These findings indicate that the self-management practices among the participants are suboptimal. Research on developing culturally and linguistically appropriate interventions to promote diabetes self-management for Chinese Americans is warranted.