Where are they? The inclusion of African-American men in empirical studies of type 2 diabetes self-care management Academic Article uri icon

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.

published proceedings

  • Journal of Social Health and Diabetes

author list (cited authors)

  • Sherman, L., & McKyer, E.

citation count

  • 1

complete list of authors

  • Sherman, Ledric||McKyer, E

publication date

  • December 2015

publisher