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Gender invariance in the relationship between social support and glycemic control

BACKGROUND: Social support (SS) is important in diabetes self-management; however, little is known about how different types of SS influence diabetes outcomes in men and women with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Therefore, the aims of this study were to investigate the relationships between types...

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Autores principales: Williams, Joni S., Walker, Rebekah J., Egede, Leonard E.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Public Library of Science 2023
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10166517/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/37155683
http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0285373
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author Williams, Joni S.
Walker, Rebekah J.
Egede, Leonard E.
author_facet Williams, Joni S.
Walker, Rebekah J.
Egede, Leonard E.
author_sort Williams, Joni S.
collection PubMed
description BACKGROUND: Social support (SS) is important in diabetes self-management; however, little is known about how different types of SS influence diabetes outcomes in men and women with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Therefore, the aims of this study were to investigate the relationships between types of SS and glycemic control and self-care behaviors and assess whether the relationships differ by gender. METHODS: Cross-sectional study of 615 adults from two primary care clinics in the southeastern U.S. Outcomes were hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) extracted from the medical records, and self-management behaviors (general diet, specific diet, exercise, blood glucose testing, foot care) measured using the Summary of Diabetes Self-Care Activities (SDSCA). Independent variable was SS (emotional/informational, tangible, affectionate, positive social interaction) measured using the Medical Outcomes Study (MOS) SS Scale. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to understand pathways between SS and glycemic control based on a theoretical model. RESULTS: Tangible support was significantly associated with self-care (r = 0.16; p = 0.046) and affectionate support was marginally associated with glycemic control (r = 0.15; p = 0.08) for both men and women. Using SEM to test gender invariance, there was no statistically significant difference in the meaning of SS between men and women. However, unique invariances in responses occurred, including a stronger relationship between tangible support and self-care for women (r = 0.24; p = 0.061). CONCLUSIONS: Of the four components of SS, tangible and affectionate support had the strongest influence on glycemic control. While affectionate support will improve glycemic control in both men and women, tangible support will improve self-care management, particularly in women.
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spelling pubmed-101665172023-05-09 Gender invariance in the relationship between social support and glycemic control Williams, Joni S. Walker, Rebekah J. Egede, Leonard E. PLoS One Research Article BACKGROUND: Social support (SS) is important in diabetes self-management; however, little is known about how different types of SS influence diabetes outcomes in men and women with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Therefore, the aims of this study were to investigate the relationships between types of SS and glycemic control and self-care behaviors and assess whether the relationships differ by gender. METHODS: Cross-sectional study of 615 adults from two primary care clinics in the southeastern U.S. Outcomes were hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) extracted from the medical records, and self-management behaviors (general diet, specific diet, exercise, blood glucose testing, foot care) measured using the Summary of Diabetes Self-Care Activities (SDSCA). Independent variable was SS (emotional/informational, tangible, affectionate, positive social interaction) measured using the Medical Outcomes Study (MOS) SS Scale. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to understand pathways between SS and glycemic control based on a theoretical model. RESULTS: Tangible support was significantly associated with self-care (r = 0.16; p = 0.046) and affectionate support was marginally associated with glycemic control (r = 0.15; p = 0.08) for both men and women. Using SEM to test gender invariance, there was no statistically significant difference in the meaning of SS between men and women. However, unique invariances in responses occurred, including a stronger relationship between tangible support and self-care for women (r = 0.24; p = 0.061). CONCLUSIONS: Of the four components of SS, tangible and affectionate support had the strongest influence on glycemic control. While affectionate support will improve glycemic control in both men and women, tangible support will improve self-care management, particularly in women. Public Library of Science 2023-05-08 /pmc/articles/PMC10166517/ /pubmed/37155683 http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0285373 Text en © 2023 Williams et al https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) , which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
spellingShingle Research Article
Williams, Joni S.
Walker, Rebekah J.
Egede, Leonard E.
Gender invariance in the relationship between social support and glycemic control
title Gender invariance in the relationship between social support and glycemic control
title_full Gender invariance in the relationship between social support and glycemic control
title_fullStr Gender invariance in the relationship between social support and glycemic control
title_full_unstemmed Gender invariance in the relationship between social support and glycemic control
title_short Gender invariance in the relationship between social support and glycemic control
title_sort gender invariance in the relationship between social support and glycemic control
topic Research Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10166517/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/37155683
http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0285373
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