Computer and Internet Use of Urban African Americans With Type 2 Diabetes in Relation to Glycemic Control, Emergency Department Use, Diabetes-Related Knowledge, and Health Literacy

Web-based diabetes interventions favorably influence process and clinical outcomes, but few studies have focused on urban African Americans, in part because of the perception that they lack adequate access, experience, or interest (1). Black-white disparities in diabetes-related knowledge and health behaviors are natural targets for such interventions. We hypothesized that urban African Americans with suboptimal diabetes control, low diabetes-related knowledge, and/or low health literacy would have the access, experience, and interest to use Web-based diabetes interventions.We sought to characterize computer/Internet use in a sample of urban African American adults with type 2 diabetes participating in the randomized controlled trial Project Sugar 2 (2). We queried subjects on general computer skills and interest in a group with suboptimal …