Purpose:
To study the knowledge, attitudes, and practices of Hispanics with Type II Diabetes before and after education intervention with a culturally competent graphical edutainment fotonovela.
Methods:
A bilingual (English/Spanish) fotonovela was developed using data collected from focus groups in Albuquerque, New Mexico and San Antonio, Texas. A total of 52 participants, including health care providers, educators and Hispanic diabetics, were interviewed in Spanish and English. The focus groups collected data on participants’ knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP) about diabetes, diabetic retinopathy, barriers to compliance with eye screening and health care self-management, and methods to reach out to members of their community in order to increase compliance. The fotonovela was field tested on 300 Hispanics with Type II Diabetes or pre-diabetes in San Antonio and Albuquerque using KAP-based surveys. Analysis consisted of comparisons of survey data before and after education intervention with the fotonovela.
Results:
Of the 300 intervention subjects, the majority knew that eye disease was associated with Type II diabetes; however, only 12% understood that the retinas were damaged as a result of the disease. Only 17% of subjects had undergone eye screening upon diagnosis. 26% of newly diagnosed diabetics understood how strict control and eye exams were important to prevent eye problems. After exposure to the fotonovela, knowledge of the risk of vision loss increased (86%) as did attitude towards proactively seeking an eye screening (92%) and importance of practicing good glycemic control (p<0.05).
Conclusions:
Our research found that, for the sector of the population targeted in our study, most individuals with Type II Diabetes were aware of some of the risks to vision loss, but were unwilling or unable to comply with a retinal eye screening. Our study showed that education, especially in the form of culturally competent entertainment, has a positive effect on knowledge, attitudes, and practices.
Keywords: diabetic retinopathy • clinical (human) or epidemiologic studies: biostatistics/epidemiology methodology • clinical research methodology