832-P: Diabetes and Doom: Lay Perceptions of Diabetes Stratified by Biometrics in Latinos with Type 2 Diabetes

Latinos/Hispanics comprise 18% of the U.S. population and have the highest proportion of type 2 diabetes of any racial/ethnic group. Research tends to split quantitative clinical data from qualitative explanatory models of diabetes. In contrast, Mil Familias, a 10-year 1000-family research initiative, combined these two research methods. Trained community health workers asked, “In your own words, what is diabetes?” of 107 Latino adults (54 ± 12 years old, 65% female, 36% on insulin) with self-reported type 2 diabetes in Santa Barbara and measured their biometrics, including HbA1c, insulin use, mental health, and weight. Thematic analysis of participants’ definition of diabetes by 2 independent raters yielded 5 categories based on participant-reported terms: controllable (controlable), sugar (azúcar), body malfunction (cuerpo), illness (enfermedad), doom/death (muerte). To probe the theory that participants who related diabetes with doom (e.g., "silent assassin,” "worst that could happen”) had poorer health than those who did not cite doom, participants were stratified by doom mention and their biometrics (Table). While no pattern between doom and health emerged, the exercise enabled examination of culturally-relevant interactions between traditional biometric outcomes and qualitative perceptions of diabetes (e.g., fatalism) in U.S. Latino adults.