School of Public Health, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, CB #7440, Rosenau Hall, Room 302, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599-7440, USA. danielm@email.unc.edu
The Health Belief Model (HBM) was evaluated for secondary prevention of type 2 diabetes mellitus in an Aboriginal population in British Columbia. Glycemic markers (glycated hemoglobin [HbA1c]), insulin and post-load glucose), diabetes health beliefs (susceptibility, severity, benefits and barriers), knowledge and behaviour were measured for 16 men and 18 women with diabetes (age [SD]=57.7 [11.6]). Eighteen months later, HbA1c and behaviour were measured for all participants, and health beliefs obtained for 17 of them. Perceived severity and perceived barriers were related to glycemic status at baseline and follow up, and predicted reduction in HbA1c (b[SE]