A descriptive study of Marshallese and Chuukese patients with diabetes in Hawai'i.

Diabetes is a growing epidemic in the United States with significant racial and ethnic health disparities among minorities. In Pacific Islanders, diabetes ranks as the fifth leading cause of death, higher than the national average. Despite this, little is known about diabetes in this population, and even less so in subpopulations such as Micronesians. To target these high-risk individuals, a federally qualified health center on Hawai'i Island started a multi-disciplinary diabetes care program for two Micronesian populations. This manuscript describes the characteristics of the Marshallese and Chuukese patients with diabetes enrolled in this program. Program enrollees had low socioeconomic status and poor health literacy, as well as high prevalence of co-morbidities commonly linked with diabetes. These findings support the data available on Micronesian populations and highlight the need to develop approaches that will improve health outcomes and bridge health disparities for these individuals.

Using quantile regression to assess disparities in medication adherence.

OBJECTIVE: To examine racial/ethnic disparities in medication adherence between Asian and Pacific Islander Americans and Whites. METHODS: This retrospective data analysis included diabetes patients enrolled in a health plan in Hawaii (N = 43,445). For anti-diabetic, lipid-lowering, and anti-hypertensive medications, quantile regression was estimated at 25(th), 50(th), and 75(th) quantiles to examine the association with race and ethnicity, controlling for other patient characteristics. RESULTS: Consistently, Filipinos, Native Hawaiians, and other Pacific Islanders were significantly less adherent than Whites. The greatest disparities were found for other Pacific Islanders using lipid-lowering medications, with adjusted differences in medication adherence, with reductions relative to Whites of as much as 19% for lipid-lowering medications for the 25(th) quantile of adherence. CONCLUSION: Whereas the large sample size undoubtedly contributed to the statistical significance, the large magnitude of the disparities, particularly for Filipinos, Native Hawaiians, and other Pacific Islanders, which suggests that these are meaningful differences that need to be addressed. The largest disparities were found at the lowest quantile suggests that they may be occurring among the most vulnerable populations with potentially poor access to care.

A training program for pharmacy students on providing diabetes care.

OBJECTIVE: To compare second- and third-year pharmacy students' competence, attitudes, and self-confidence in providing diabetes care before and after completing a hand-on diabetes training program and to determine if the program had an impact on students' attitude and self-confidence based on their year in the curriculum. DESIGN: The program included classroom lectures and hands-on learning sessions in 5 facets of diabetes care. Pre- and post-test instruments measured students' competence, attitudes, and confidence in diabetes care. ASSESSMENT: Students' competence and the mean overall confidence score significantly improved after completing the program, while mean overall attitude score did not. Third-year students had significantly higher confidence scores than did second-year students on both pre- and post-program tests. No significant difference was found for attitude scores between second- and third-year students. CONCLUSION: The hands-on learning program was an effective approach to training pharmacy students in diabetes care, improving both their competence and confidence.

Factors Affecting Sustained Medication Adherence and Its Impact on Health Care Utilization in Patients with Diabetes.

OBJECTIVE: To identify factors associated with years of medication adherence and to examine the relationship between years of adherence and health care utilization. METHODS: This retrospective analysis used administrative data from adult patients with diabetes enrolled in health plan in Hawaii for four years (n= 23,450 patients). Ordered logistic regression was used to examine factors related to years of medication adherence for three types of medications (anti-diabetic, antihypertensive, lipid-lowering). Multivariable logistic regression and negative binomial regression were used to examine relationship between years of adherence and health care utilization (hospitalizations and emergency department visits). KEY FINDINGS: Adherence to any of the medications for all four years was significantly associated with lower odds of a hospitalization or emergency department visit in the third year. The magnitude of reduction in utilization was greater for adherence to anti-diabetic and lipid-lowering medications, at 31% compared to 22% for antihypertensives. The 9% of patients who were adherent to all three types of medications for all four years showed a reduction of 53%. CONCLUSIONS: Improvement is needed in medication adherence across all three types of medication. Interventions may need to target younger adults, women, patients with congestive heart failure, Filipinos and Native Hawaiians.