Identification of Linguistic Barriers to Diabetes Knowledge and Glycemic Control in Chinese Americans With Diabetes
- William C. Hsu, MD,
- Sophia Cheung, MS,
- Emmelyn Ong, MA,
- Kathy Wong, MSPH,
- Susan Lin, BS,
- Kenneth Leon, BA,
- Katie Weinger, EDD and
- George L. King, MD
- Asian American Diabetes Initiative and the Center for Innovation in Diabetes Education, Joslin Diabetes Center, Boston, Massachusetts
- Address correspondence and reprint requests to William C. Hsu, MD, Joslin Diabetes Center, One Joslin Place, Boston MA 02215. E-mail: william.hsu{at}joslin.harvard.edu
The Asian-American population, a fast-growing minority group in America (1), is more likely to have type 2 diabetes compared with non-Hispanic whites despite having lower body weight (2–6). Among the diverse Asian immigrants, Chinese Americans make up the largest subgroup (1), of whom 50% live in linguistic isolation (7). Communication problems with health care providers (8) and the lack of culturally appropriate diabetes education (9), among other factors (10,11), may be important contributors to disparities in health (12–15) and diabetes control (16) in Chinese Americans.
In this study, we identified linguistic barriers to diabetes education and care in Chinese Americans and explored the appropriate venues to deliver diabetes information to Chinese-American communities.
RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS
Subjects were ethnic Chinese residing in the U.S. Participants (aged 18–70 years) had diabetes for at least 1 year and were taking oral agents and/or insulin. All volunteers can read, write, and speak at least English, Mandarin, or Cantonese. We recruited participants from local Asian community health centers in Boston, New York, New Jersey, and San Francisco, using fliers posted in the clinics, advertisements in local Chinese newspapers, mailings to patients from these clinics, and announcements during community outreach. Volunteers received monetary compensation and a bilingual (English/Chinese) diabetes guide for participation.
The institutional review board …
