TY - JOUR
T1 - Diabetes health literacy among somali patients with diabetes mellitus in a us primary care setting
AU - Njeru, Jane W.
AU - Hagi-Salaad, Misbil F.
AU - Haji, Habibo
AU - Cha, Stephen S.
AU - Wieland, Mark L.
N1 - Funding Information:
This project was made possible by the CTSA Grant UL1 TR000135 from the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS), a component of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Its contents are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of the NIH. The funding body had no role in the design of the study, collection, analysis, and interpretation of data; in the writing of the manuscript; and in the decision to submit the manuscript for publication.
Publisher Copyright:
© W. Montague Cobb-NMA Health Institute 2015.
Copyright:
Copyright 2017 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.
PY - 2015/5/28
Y1 - 2015/5/28
N2 - Purpose The purpose of this study was to describe diabetes literacy among Somali immigrants with diabetes and its association with diabetes outcomes. Among Somali immigrants in North America, the prevalence of diabetes exceeds that of the general population, and their measures of diabetes control are suboptimal when compared with non-Somali patients. Diabetes literacy is an important mediator of diabetes outcomes in general populations that has not been previously described among Somali immigrants and refugees. Methods Diabetes literacy was measured using a translated version of the spoken knowledge in low literacy in diabetes (SKILLD) scale among Somali immigrants and refugees with type 2 diabetes. Diabetes outcome measures, including hemoglobin A1C, low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol, and blood pressure, were obtained for each patient. Multivariate logistic regression was used to assess associations between diabetes literacy and diabetes outcomes. Results Among 50 Somali patients with diabetes who completed the survey, the mean SKILLD score was low (42.2%). The diabetes outcome measures showed a mean hemoglobin A1C of 8%, LDL cholesterol of 99.17 mg/dL (2.57 mmol/L), systolic blood pressure of 130.9 mmHg, and diastolic blood pressure of 70.2 mmHg. There was no association between diabetes literacy scores and diabetes outcome measures. Discussion Somali patients with diabetes mellitus had low diabetes literacy and suboptimal measures of diabetes disease control. However, we found no association between diabetes literacy and diabetes outcomes. Future work aimed at reduction of diabetes-related health disparities among Somali immigrants and refugees to high-income countries should go beyond traditional means of patient education for lowliteracy populations.
AB - Purpose The purpose of this study was to describe diabetes literacy among Somali immigrants with diabetes and its association with diabetes outcomes. Among Somali immigrants in North America, the prevalence of diabetes exceeds that of the general population, and their measures of diabetes control are suboptimal when compared with non-Somali patients. Diabetes literacy is an important mediator of diabetes outcomes in general populations that has not been previously described among Somali immigrants and refugees. Methods Diabetes literacy was measured using a translated version of the spoken knowledge in low literacy in diabetes (SKILLD) scale among Somali immigrants and refugees with type 2 diabetes. Diabetes outcome measures, including hemoglobin A1C, low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol, and blood pressure, were obtained for each patient. Multivariate logistic regression was used to assess associations between diabetes literacy and diabetes outcomes. Results Among 50 Somali patients with diabetes who completed the survey, the mean SKILLD score was low (42.2%). The diabetes outcome measures showed a mean hemoglobin A1C of 8%, LDL cholesterol of 99.17 mg/dL (2.57 mmol/L), systolic blood pressure of 130.9 mmHg, and diastolic blood pressure of 70.2 mmHg. There was no association between diabetes literacy scores and diabetes outcome measures. Discussion Somali patients with diabetes mellitus had low diabetes literacy and suboptimal measures of diabetes disease control. However, we found no association between diabetes literacy and diabetes outcomes. Future work aimed at reduction of diabetes-related health disparities among Somali immigrants and refugees to high-income countries should go beyond traditional means of patient education for lowliteracy populations.
KW - Diabetes literacy
KW - Immigrant
KW - Refugee
KW - Somali
KW - Spoken knowledge in low literacy in diabetes (SKILLD)
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U2 - 10.1007/s40615-015-0129-4
DO - 10.1007/s40615-015-0129-4
M3 - Article
C2 - 27271060
AN - SCOPUS:85015281664
VL - 3
SP - 210
EP - 216
JO - Journal of racial and ethnic health disparities
JF - Journal of racial and ethnic health disparities
SN - 2197-3792
IS - 2
ER -