[Cultural domain of self-care in type 2 diabetes patients with and without blood glucose control in Mexico].

Objective: To analyze the main elements related with the cultural domain of self-health care in type 2 diabetes patients with and without good blood glucose control.

Methods: Descriptive study comprising diabetes patients, 57 with and 76 without good blood glucose control, with an average age of 60 years, who attended a Social Security family clinic in Mexico in 2003. A cognitive anthropology approach using free lists and a structured questionnaire was applied and a semantic model and average cultural knowledge based on six questions about their illness was developed by consensus analysis.