Diabetes: Chronic Disease Management

Type 2 diabetes mellitus continues to be an important clinical and public health problem. Departmental research focuses on screening, patient education, and management of diabetes. Projects have examined the accuracy of screening guidelines and screening practices of physicians. Others have focused on management issues and beliefs among Latino/ Hispanic diabetic patients. Research projects have focused on screening recommendations, patient risk factors and test ordering, and patient self-management activities and glycemic control. Resident research projects sponsored by the AAFP have focused on patient depression and physician adherence to treatment guidelines in the management of diabetes.  The Department has been very successful is creating resident research experiences around the management of diabetes.

Publications

Weller SC, Baer R, Nash A, Perez N. Discovering successful strategies for diabetic self-management: a qualitative comparative study. BMJ Open Diabetes Research and Care. May 2017; 5(10): e000349. doi: 10.1136/bmjdrc-2016-000349. 

Jana KK. Do low glycemic index diets increase insulin sensitivity in overweight or obese patients? Evidence-based Practice. December 2016; 19(12): e12.

Weller SC, Baer R, Garcia de Alba Garcia JE, Salcedo Rocha AL. Are difference between patient and provider explanatory models of diabetes associated with patient self-management and glycemic control? Journal of the Poor and Underserved. 2013; 24(4): 1498-1510. doi: 10.1353/hpu.2013.0166.

Baer R, Weller SC, Garcia de Alba Garcia JE, Salcedo Rocha AL. Ethnomedical and biomedical realities: is there an epidemiological relationship between stress-related folk illnesses and type 2 diabetes? Human Organization. 2012; 1(4): 339-347.

Olson MM, Trevino DB, Islam J, Denner L. The biopsychosocial milieu of type II diabetes: an exploratory study of the impact of social relationships on a chronic inflammatory disease. The International Journal of Psychiatry in Medicine. 2010. 40(3): 289-305.

Dallo FJ, Weller SC, Cass A: Variations in glucose test ordering practices by diabetes risk factors. J Amer Board Fam Med. 2008, 21(3):249-50.

Dallo FJ, Weller SC, Cass A: Diabetes risk factors and testing in a Family Medicine clinic: Implications for quality of care. Texas Medicine. 2007, 107(3):45-50

Garcia de Alba Garcia JE, Salcedo Rocha AL, Lopez I, Baer RD, Dressler WW, Weller SC: “Diabetes is my companion”: Lifestyle and self-management among good and poor control Mexican diabetics. Social Science & Medicine. 2007, 64:2223-35.

 Garcia de Alba JE, Dallo FJ, Salcedo Rocha AL, Colunga Rodríguez C, Baer RD, Perez N, Weller SC: The relative effect of self-management practices on glycemic control in Type 2 Diabetic Patients in Mexico. J of Chronic Illness. 2006, 2:77-85.

Dallo FJ, Weller SC: Effectiveness of diabetes mellitus screening recommendations. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 2003, 100(18): 10574-10579.

Funding

A Shepherd, MD: Are cardiovascular disease risk factors among patients with type 2 diabetes being managed according to evidence-based guidelines in an academic residency environment? Texas Academy of Family Physicians Foundation. 2/09 -07/10 $5000.

W J Alonso, MD: A retrospective cohort study evaluating the relationship between uncontrolled obstructive sleep apnea and intensity of hypoglycemic therapy among type 2 diabetics. The Joint AAFP/F-AAFP Grant Awards Program. 11/07-10/08 $2,000.

A Gomez, MD: Relationship between depression and glycemic control and its correlation with medication adherence in patients with DM type 2: a cohort study in a primary care setting. The Joint AAFP/F-AAFP Grant Awards Program. 11/07-10/08 $2,000.

W J Alonso, MD: A cross-sectional study examining the association between habitual snoring and glycemic control in type 2 diabetics. The Joint AAFP/F-AAFP Grant Awards Program. 11/06-10/07 $2,000.

Benavides L: Is there a difference in intensity of physicians’ intervention among depressed and non-depressed patients with Diabetes Mellitus Type 2? The Joint AAFP/F-AAFP Grant Awards Program. 11/05-10/06 $2,000.

Benavides L: Perception of self-efficacy and health status in patients with Diabetes Mellitus Type 2: A predictor of outcome. The Joint AAFP/F-AAFP Grant Awards Program. 11/04-10/05 $2,000.

Syed, I: Improving Compliance with Guidelines for Care of Patents with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus The Joint AAFP/F-AAFP Grant Awards Program. 11/02-10/03 $2,000.

Gosselink P: Depression Among Diabetic Patients in a Community Clinic: Prevalence, demographic correlates and effects of screening. The Joint AAFP/F-AAFP Grant Awards Program. 11/01-10/02 $2,000.

Weller SC (PI), Baer RD: Cultural beliefs and health status in Type 2 diabetics. NSF 9/ 01 – 8/ 04 $264,830. 

Department of Family Medicine
University of Texas Medical Branch
301 University Boulevard
Galveston, Texas 77555-1123

409.772.3126