Award Date

12-15-2019

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Public Health (MPH)

Department

Public Health

First Committee Member

Francisco Sy

Second Committee Member

Lung-Chang Chien

Third Committee Member

Courtney Coughenour

Fourth Committee Member

Andrew Reyes

Number of Pages

90

Abstract

This study assessed beliefs about the contribution of the Filipino diet and genetics to diabetes burden and its ability to control it without medical interventions. The data from a need’s assessment survey of 200 Filipino Americans residing in Clark County, Nevada, were analyzed by using the logistic regression model. A significant proportion of the participants believed that diabetes is a problem in the Filipino community (79%) and is related to the Filipino diet (75%) and genetics (69.0%), and that it can be controlled without medical intervention (52.4%). In univariate analyses, age (Odds ratio [OR]: 1.03, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.01 - 1.05), being married (OR: 6.56, 95%CI: 2.46 - 17.49), income less than $20,000 (OR: 0.23, 95% CI: 0.09 0.60), and smoking (OR: 0.32, 95% CI: 0.12-0.87) were associated with the belief that diabetes is a problem in the Filipino American community. Likewise, educational attainment at high school or below (OR: 0.17, 95% CI: 0.05-0.57), income below $20,000 (OR: 0.21, 95% CI: 0.08 0.54), and smoking (OR: 0.25, 95% CI: 0.09-0.67) were associated with lower odds of believing that diabetes is related to the Filipino diet. Male (OR: 0.46, 95% CI: 0.22-0.94), high school (OR: 0.25, 95% CI: 0.08-0.77), and college graduates (OR: 0.35, 95% CI: 0.14-0.90), and smokers (OR: 0.21, 95% CI: 0.08-0.58) were less likely to believe that diabetes is related to the Filipino genetics. Males were also less likely to believe that diabetes could be controlled without medical intervention (OR: 0.44, 95%CI: 0.22-0.88). However, the multivariate models, for any of the outcomes, were found to be statistically non-significant. It may be due to the small sample size of the study. From a public health perspective, it is important to understand the community’s beliefs about diabetes and to identify their misconceptions and gaps in knowledge. Targeted interventions addressing the misconceptions can be developed and implemented in the Filipino American community.

Keywords

Beliefs; Diabetes; Filipino Americans; Health Belief Model; Nevada

Disciplines

Epidemiology | Public Health

File Format

pdf

File Size

2.4 MB

Degree Grantor

University of Nevada, Las Vegas

Language

English

Rights

IN COPYRIGHT. For more information about this rights statement, please visit http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

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