Diabetes among immigrants from non-western countries
Larsen, I.F.
Tidsskrift for den Norske Laegeforening Tidsskrift for Praktisk Medicin Ny Raekke 120(23): 2804-2806
2000
ISSN/ISBN: 0029-2001 PMID: 11107930 Document Number: 513290
Around 15% of all inhabitants in Oslo, Norway, have non-western ethnic background. In downtown Oslo the proportion is around one third. Diabetes is more frequent in non-western ethnic groups than among westerners. Treatment of diabetes requires a collaboration between the patient and the health professional and a common understanding of the nature of the disease and the treatment objectives. In the encounter with patients of foreign origin there are several cultural obstacles for compliance: language problems, illiteracy, religious fatalism and reluctance by the patients to take responsibility for his/her own disease. Lovisenberg Diakonale Sykehus in Oslo has conducted education classes for groups of Pakistani persons with diabetes.