Hypoglycemic Agents Perceptions and Experiences of Taking Oral Hypoglycemic Agents Among People of Pakistani and Indian Origin

The ailment of type 2 Diabetes is four times more prevalent among South Asians of Pakistani or Indian origin than the rest of the British population. It's effects can be extremely debilitating, including conditions such as heart disease, renal failure, stroke, amputation, and blindness. The common approaches to dealing with these problems involve daily measuring and administration of oral hypoglycemic agents (OHAs), which requires considerable patient responsibility. South Asian patients, however, hold beliefs which are contrary to the commonly held beliefs of Western medicine, in that drugs should be taken only when symptoms are present, and that long-term use of drugs is dangerous to the body. These preconceived notions must be recognized by the medical community of Britain, and addressed to this population in particular in order for better adoption and consistent use of OHAs.

The methodology used for this study includes single, in-depth interviews that accepts broad answers in order to best understand the mindset of the individual interviewed, which means a wide range of responses were received and little strength was applied to each question...

This way, the study is able to incorporate responses, which may not have been anticipated before the initial interview. The study uses only 32 patients, but this number may very well be a representative sample for the Type 2 Diabetes South Asian community. The research design of the study, being entirely qualitative in nature, limits the amount of rigor that can be drawn from this study. It may be preferable now that a link between South Asian Type 2 Diabetes patients holding prejudices against Western medicine to create a quantitative study incorporating a system of scale. For example, ranking the importance of OHAs in the diabetes regimen from 1-7, ranking the respondents belief that their OHAs need to be taken exactly as prescribed from 1-7, and ranking the respondents belief that Western drugs are the absolute best option available to them while inside Britain from 1-7. With further quantitative analysis we could have seen just how strongly the respondents felt about their positions, and how the strength of their beliefs correlates to each patients own OHA practices.
The statement of findings in this study is exactly what was predicted by the researchers; that Western medical practitioners are trusted, but that Western medicine is not. Also,…