The Effects of Financial Pressures on Adherence and Glucose Control Among Racial/Ethnically Diverse Patients with Diabetes

Background: The Affordable Care Act is designed to decrease the numbers of uninsured patients in U.S. However, even with insurance, patients who have financial hardships may have difficulty obtaining their medications because of cost issues. Objective: Among patients with type 2 diabetes, to examine the association between patients' self-reported financial pressures on cost-related medication non-adherence and glucose control. Additionally, to examine whether having insurance decrease the financial pressures of diabetes care. Design and Participants: Racially/ethnically diverse patients ( N = 1,361; 249 non-Hispanic whites, 194 Vietnamese, and 533 Mexican American) with type 2 diabetes were recruited from seven outpatient clinics for a cross-sectional, observational study. Key Results: Although both Vietnamese and Mexican-American patients reported having low annual incomes, more Mexican Americans reported the presence of financial barriers to getting medical care and perceived financial burden due to their diabetes, compared to whites and Vietnamese ( p Copyright of JGIM: Journal of General Internal Medicine is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)