Social factors and barriers to self-care adherence in Hispanic men and women with diabetes

Abstract

Objective: To explore quantitatively the extent to which social support, social norms and barriers are associated with self-efficacy and self-care adherence in Hispanic patients with diabetes and the extent to which these differ for men and women.

Methods: Baseline survey data were collected from 248 low-SES, Hispanic men and women who were participants in a randomized controlled trial of a culturally targeted intervention for diabetes management. Student's t, Pearson correlations and multiple regression were used to analyze the data.

Results: Compared to men, women were less likely to receive support, faced more barriers, reported less self-efficacy and had lower levels of self-care adherence. Perceived support was consistently correlated with better self-efficacy in women but not men, even though men reported higher levels of support.

Conclusion: The lack of adequate support seems to be a fundamental barrier for Hispanic women with diabetes.

Practice implications: Health care providers should be sensitive to sociocultural influences in Hispanic groups that may facilitate men's self-care adherence, but could potentially hamper women's efforts. Interventions designed for Hispanics should augment women's support needs and address culture and social factors that may differentially impact the ability of men and women to manage their diabetes.

Keywords: Diabetes; Gender disparities; Hispanic; Self-care adherence; Self-efficacy; Social norms; Social support.