Original Article

Race, Socioeconomic Status, Health-Related Quality of Life, and Self-Care of Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus among Adults in North Carolina

Authors: Crystal N. Piper, PhD, Shilpa Chalakalal, MSPH, Neethu Sebastian, MPH, Jan Warren-Findlow, PhD, Michael E. Thompson, DrPH

Abstract

Objectives: The objective of this study was to examine the associations among race, education, income, and health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in self-care of type 2 diabetes mellitus among adults in North Carolina.

Methods: A secondary analysis was conducted using data from the 2009 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance Survey (BRFSS), a large population-based survey (N = 432,607) conducted in the United States. The data were analyzed to account for the weighted complex multistage sampling design of the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance Survey. Parametric testing using univariate/bivariate/multivariate analysis was performed.

Results: The majority of participants reported taking a class/course on diabetes mellitus management and having checked their blood glucose levels at least once per day. The majority (61.26%) of the participants did not have good self-management skills, based on the education and blood glucose–monitoring criteria established for this study. Participants with poor HRQoL had significantly increased odds of good diabetes mellitus self-care practices.

Conclusions: Individuals with poor HRQoL had significantly increased odds of good diabetes mellitus self-care practices. Although findings on race, education, and income were not statistically significant, they were consistent with previous research. In the future, individuals who are nonwhite, have less than a high school level of education, and have no health insurance should be targeted to improve diabetes mellitus self-care practices through educational and informational materials. Further investigation using more comprehensive measures of diabetes mellitus self-care is warranted.

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