Ethnic Dis
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Cultural competency leads to higher quality care for asthmatic children, yet it is not known whether asthma educational materials targeting minority children and families are culturally competent. The study objective was to evaluate the cultural competency of printed asthma educational materials targeting minorities in Wisconsin. ⋯ The few asthma educational materials targeting minorities that exist in Wisconsin are not culturally competent. More culturally competent asthma educational materials for minorities are needed.
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Multicenter Study
Disparities by insurance status in quality of care for elderly patients with unstable angina.
Treatment disparities for socioeconomically disadvantaged populations have been widely reported, but few studies have sought explanations for these disparities. ⋯ Elderly Medicaid patients appear to receive poorer quality of care. This finding is partially, but not completely, explained by characteristics of the facilities where they are hospitalized.
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American Indians (AI) have some of the highest smoking rates in the United States. The Muscogee Nation of Oklahoma developed a culturally targeted program called "Second Wind" based on the American Cancer Society's FreshStart smoking cessation program, but it has not been formally tested. ⋯ American Indian smokers are unique because of their traditional use of tobacco. Our participants felt that smoking cessation can be accomplished without discouraging traditional use of tobacco. We suggest ways to improve the "Second Wind" curriculum so that it is targeted for a heterogeneous group of AI smokers.
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Metabolic syndrome (MetS) defines cardiovascular disease (CVD) risks. Despite higher rates of obesity, type 2 diabetes, and hypertension, African Americans have lower rates of MetS when compared to Caucasians, which is paradoxical, since African Americans are more insulin resistant and have higher rates of cardiovascular morbidity and mortality when compared to White Americans. We hypothesized that genetic inheritance predisposes African Americans to the greater cardiovascular risk and the associated morbidity and mortality. Therefore, we investigated the prevalence of components of MetS in obese, glucose-tolerant, first degree relatives of African American patients with type 2 diabetes. ⋯ We found that: 1) the prevalence of MetS is higher in a subgroup of African Americans who were first-degree relatives of patients with type 2 diabetes than that of African Americans in the NHANES III; and 2) waist circumference rather than metabolic parameters was the single most important parameter and was more likely to meet the MetS criteria in African American relatives.