Where are they? The inclusion of African-American men in empirical studies of type 2 diabetes self-care management
Academic Article
Overview
Research
Identity
Additional Document Info
Other
View All
Overview
abstract
Abstract Background: African-American Men experience higher rates of serious complications of diabetes, due in part to poor disease management. Yet it is unclear to what extent research been devoted to type 2 diabetes management in this population. Purpose: A need exists to clarify the extant literature on self-care management (SCM) practices of African-American Men with type 2 diabetes. Materials and Methods: A systematic literature and methodological quality scoring (MQS) using the Garrard matrix method was performed. Low scores (0-1) indicate low representation of African-American men; highest score (3) indicate high inclusion of African-American men in the samples. The search targeted articles focused on type 2 diabetes self-care management, and which included samples of African-American Men. Each publication was reviewed and assigned a MQS by the researchers, who reached 100% concordance with the MQS. Results: Initial screening yielded 122 articles, but only 41 met full study inclusion criteria. These studies represent a combined sample size of 9,171 participants of which less than one-third (3,007; 32.8%) were clearly identifiable as African-American men. Only 7 studies had samples consisting 100% of African-American Men. Mixed methods approaches were used least (n = 9 studies), followed by quantitative approaches (n = 15 studies). Qualitative approaches was most commonly used (n = 17 studies). Most (n = 24) studies scored low (0 to 1 score), indicating low-level of inclusion of African-American Men in their sample. Discussion: In spite of the growing body of literature on managing type 2 diabetes, there is a paucity of information focused on a high-need and high-risk group - African-American Men. The exclusion of this population can result in adverse health consequences, given the high comorbidities associated with uncontrolled diabetes. Conclusion: Including more African-American Men in self-care management studies can help determine the factors affecting research participation among this group as well as to further understand the complexity that these men face regarding managing their diabetes.
