Explaining type 2 diabetes in Mexico: Patients' and physicians' perspectives

Conducted in Guadalajara, Mexico, the study focuses on patients' and physicians' beliefsabout diabetes causality. The study was conducted in two stages and used cultural consensusmodel. First, qualitative interviews were conducted with a convenience sample of 28 Type 2diabetes patients. On the basis of the elicited themes, 21 scenarios on diabetes causes weredeveloped. In the second stage, a convenience sample of 46 Type 2 diabetes patients and 25physicians working at the primary care level was recruited. Participants were asked to rateeach scenario on a three-point scale. Scenario-type interviews were consensus analyzed usingANTHROPAC. Patients and physicians shared very different cultural models of diabetescausality. The patient model included emotional, environmental, some behavioral, andhereditary causes of diabetes. The physician model emphasized heredity as a single mostimportant cause of diabetes. Differences between patient and physician views of diabetescausality may contribute to mistrust and miscommunication in medical interactions. There is aneed for clinical practice that would include psychosocial stress and environmental factors indiabetes prevention and care.