Ethnic differences in diabetes prevalence and ICT use.

Background: Uptake of information and communication technology (ICT) by individuals with diabetes can assist nursing care delivery, and improve patient outcomes. However, it is unclear how such uptake relates to ethnic differences in diabetes risk.

Aim: To assess the moderating effects of ICT uptake on South Asian excess diabetes prevalence over a specific elapsed timeframe, accounting for selected environmental, socio-economic, and behavioural risk factors.

Method: Archived data from a UK Office for National Statistics household survey 2006-2011 (120 621 partly non-orthogonal participant records) were analysed using hierarchical binary logistic regression analyses.

Results: ICT uptake qualified ethnic differences in diabetes prevalence. Non-smoking diabetes cases living in terraced housing with a home computer were more likely to be South Asian than Caucasian. By contrast, such cases were more likely to be Caucasian if a computer was unavailable (OR: 0.61; CI: 0.43-0.86; P=0.005). Furthermore, diabetes cases from low-income, mobile-dependent homes were probably South Asian (OR: 0.05; CI: 0.00-0.50; P=0.012).

Conclusions: Home computing was linked to better tobacco control among South Asians with diabetes living in terraced properties. Mobile phone dependence was pronounced in those that received income support. Implications for nursing care are considered.