Abstract

Background: Patients' cultural orientations play an important role in chronic diseases. However, medical education research still does not emphasize these variables. Aim: To measure the influence of psychosocial dimensions on blood glucose control in type 2 diabetic patients. Subjects and methods: Case-control design. Data were collected from institutional records and structured interviews. Blood glucose control was tested using glycosylated hemoglobin A1C. Patients with a good metabolic profile defined as a glycosylated hemoglobin of less than 7% were considered cases while those with a glycosylated hemoglobin ? 7% were labeled as controls. Sixty seven cases and 61 controls were randomly selected at a public health center located in Los Angeles, Chile. Socio-demographic, illness-related, and psychosocial variables were measured and multiple modeling using logistic regression was performed. Results: Seventy percent of patients were female, mean age was 61 years, 57% were housewives and most had a low income and educational level. The cultural predictors of metabolic control of diabetes were the perception of obstacles for blood glucose control, attribution of health benefits to a good control, family support and bonding quality with the health team. Conclusions: Cultural variables play a significant role in metabolic control of diabetic patients and must be born in mind in educational campaigns.