This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via Scopus Google Scholar Articles by Choi, S. E. PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Choi, S. E. Social Bookmarking                         What's this?

Diet-Specific Family Support and Glucose Control Among Korean Immigrants With Type 2 Diabetes

From the Program in Nursing Science, College of Health Sciences, University of California, Irvine.

Correspondence to Sarah E. Choi, PhD, RN, FNP, Program in Nursing Science, College of Health Sciences, University of California, Irvine, 214 Irvine Hall, Irvine, CA 92697-3959 (sechoi{at}uci.edu).

Purpose

The purpose of this study was to examine the influence of diet family support on glucose outcome in Korean immigrants with type 2 diabetes, taking into consideration patient gender.

Methods

A total of 143 Korean immigrants with type 2 diabetes were recruited from a West Coast Koreatown. On completing questionnaires (demographic, health history, and the Diabetes Family Behavior Checklist-II [DFBC]), a participant was given a finger stick blood test for glycosylated hemoglobin (A1C). Body mass index (BMI) and waist-to-hip ratio (WHR) were calculated after measurements were taken. Analyses assessed the independent associations of diet family support, gender, and diet family support by gender interactions with glucose outcome.

Results

A higher level of diet family support was significantly associated with lower A1C, indicating the beneficial effect of diet family support on glucose control. Although the main effect of gender on A1C was not significant, the effect of the product term of family support and gender was, indicating that the significant beneficial impact of diet family support on A1C depends on gender. The impact is much more pronounced in men (B = -.516) than women (B = -.038).

Conclusions

Family support, specific to diet, is significantly associated with glucose outcomes in Korean immigrants with type 2 diabetes. That is, more perceived family support was associated with better glucose control. The positive impact of family support on glucose outcome was significantly stronger in men than in women, even after other factors were taken into consideration.

The Diabetes Educator, Vol. 35, No. 6, 978-985 (2009)
DOI: 10.1177/0145721709349220


CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter    What's this?