Journal of Immigrant and Minority Health
Volume 18, Issue 6, 2016, Pages 1266-1273

Association of Acculturation and Health Literacy with Prevalent Dysglycemia and Diabetes Control Among Latinos in the Boston Area Community Health (BACH) Survey (Article)

López L.* , Grant R.W. , Marceau L. , Piccolo R. , McKinlay J.B. , Meigs J.B.
  • a Division of Hospital Medicine, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, United States
  • b Division of Research, Kaiser Permanente Northern California, Oakland, CA, United States
  • c New England Research Institutes, Boston, MA, United States
  • d New England Research Institutes, Boston, MA, United States
  • e New England Research Institutes, Boston, MA, United States
  • f Division of General Internal Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, United States

Abstract

This study assessed the effect of acculturation on type 2 diabetes and whether health literacy may mediate this association. The Boston Area Community Health cohort is a multi-stage stratified random sample of adults from Boston including 744 Latinos. We defined dysglycemia as a HbA1c ≥5.7 %. Multivariable analyses examined the associations between acculturation and health literacy adjusting for demographic and clinical variables. Similar analyses were performed among participants with HbA1c ≥7.0 % to assess the association between acculturation and diabetes control. Among an insured primarily foreign born Spanish speaking Latino population, with a long residence period in the US and good healthcare utilization, higher levels of acculturation were not associated with dysglycemia. Lower levels of acculturation were associated with worse diabetes control. Health literacy level did not modify these associations. Elucidating the components of heterogeneity among Latinos will be essential for understanding the influence of acculturation on diabetes. © 2016, Springer Science+Business Media New York.

Author Keywords

Health literacy type 2 diabetes Latinos Acculturation

Index Keywords

Massachusetts non insulin dependent diabetes mellitus Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 human epidemiology middle aged statistics and numerical data health service Aged Health Surveys ethnology Hispanic Americans Humans glycosylated hemoglobin Hispanic male Acculturation Socioeconomic Factors female socioeconomics cultural factor health services prevalence Glycated Hemoglobin A adult Prediabetic State utilization health literacy impaired glucose tolerance Boston health survey
Link
https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-84959166636&doi=10.1007%2fs10903-016-0362-x&partnerID=40&md5=36ef48763558ac2da953021a29fd9aa7
DOI: 10.1007/s10903-016-0362-x
ISSN: 15571912
Cited by: 3
Original Language: English