Family history of type-2 diabetes risk knowledge, perceived threat and physical activity amongst African Americans

The purpose of this thesis was to explore an association between family history of type-2 diabetes and the awareness of risk factors, perceived threat, and physical activity in African Americans. In the United States it was approximated that type-2 diabetes affects 8% of adults. With a prevalence of 11.8%, African Americans remain disproportionately affected by the epidemic of diabetes and tend to have a greater occurrence and prevalence of diabetes, poorer control of risk factors, and greater complications from the disease than do Caucasians. A risk factor that cannot be modified, but is important and closely linked with diabetes expression, family history, can be a considerable tool in promoting behavior changes and reducing the risk of developing the condition in African Americans. Awareness of risk factors, perceived threat and physical activity were assessed from 133 churchgoing African Americans by questionnaire The hypothesis for this study was that African Americans with a family history of type-2 diabetes would have a greater awareness of the risks of developing type-2 diabetes, greater perceived threat of developing the disease, and participate in more physical activity than those who did not have this family history. The results supported the hypotheses, as African Americans with a family history of diabetes were more knowledgeable about 2 of the 7 risk factors (no significant difference in the other five), had more perceived threat of the disease, and participated in more physical activity than those without a family history.