Diabetes Self-Management Activities for Latinos Living in Non-metropolitan Rural Communities: A Snapshot of an Underserved Rural State

Abstract

The Latino community continues to grow in the rural Midwest, and diabetes is a pertinent disease for research in this demographic. Patient self-management is an important aspect of comprehensive care for diabetes and may mitigate complications. A cross-sectional survey assessed various activities including self-monitoring of blood glucose, personal foot inspection, diet adherence, and diabetes self-management education. Less than half of the sample performed self-monitoring of blood glucose daily (40%), adhered strictly to special diabetes diet recommendations (44%), or attended a diabetes self-management education class (48%). Participants advised on personal foot inspection were three times more likely to perform the self-care activity. Improvements are indicated in these self-management activities. Further research is needed to discern disparities and barriers in self-monitoring of blood glucose among this target population. An increased emphasis on enrollment in diabetes self-management classes should target foreign-born Latinos with lower levels of education.