EXPLAINING TYPE 2 DIABETES: COMPARING PATIENTS’ AND PHYSICIANS’ MODELS IN MEXICO^*

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