Abstract
Purpose. The purpose of this causal-comparative research study was to examine the health beliefs of Latino adult males in Ventura County California as compared to original research and factors affecting the Latino adult male decision to utilize and adhere to prescribed medical treatment as measured by Hemoglobin A1c tests. This study was a replication of a previous study completed by Dr. Joe Coria (2011).Methodology. This study employed the use of cross-sectional quantitative research design with questionnaire data collection. The 16-question in-person survey instrument was completed by 109 participants from 149 possible participants. Cross-tabulated survey questions using chi-square tests were used to determine whether there was a relationship between education, family, and medical team support related to blood sugar levels among diabetic males. Two-tailed Pearson chi-square tests were also performed for categorical variables.Findings. Family support, health education, and the provision of language-appropriate material (English/Spanish) to Latino adult males during classes and in-person meetings with health educators were significant in improving blood glucose levels and the negative effects associated with diabetes mellitus (DM) as measured by Hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) tests. The findings from this study extend Coria's (2011) research in an important direction by showing that family support, language-appropriate materials, and medical team support do make a significant difference to the health of Latino men with diabetes.Conclusions. Positive associations between DM class attendance, family participation and educational material in their preferred language (English/Spanish) as well as medical team support and regular interaction with health educators improved HbA1c levels. Moreover, a significant relationship between all variables was found, whereas Coria's (2011) findings determined no significance, which was possibly due to limitations in sample size and data collection process compared to the current study, which had a larger sample size and where A1c levels were collected for all participants.Recommendations. It is recommended that further research of this type be continued to determine specific motivations and actions that improve health outcomes and decrease complications from chronic disease in Latino communities. Moreover, community collaboration, outreach, and support should be increased to educate low-income minority communities on the importance of health education and prevention.