Health beliefs and folk models of diabetes in British Bangladeshis: a qualitative study

OBJECTIVE: To explore the experience of diabetes in British Bangladeshis, since successful management of diabetes requires attention not just to observable behaviour but to the underlying attitudes and belief systems which drive that behaviour. DESIGN: Qualitative study of subjects' experience of diabetes using narratives, semi-structured interviews, focus groups, and pile sorting exercises. A new qualitative method, the structured vignette, was developed for validating researchers' understanding of primary level culture. SUBJECTS: 40 British Bangladeshi patients with diabetes, and 10 non-Bangladeshi controls, recruited from primary care. RESULT: Several constructs were detected in relation to body image, cause and nature of diabetes, food classification, and knowledge of complications. In some areas, the similarities between Bangladeshi and non-Bangladeshi subjects were as striking as their…