Social capital and its related factors in patients with type 2 diabetes

The relationship between social capital and health is well establishes. The present study aimed to investigate the relationship between social capital and its related factors in patients with type 2 diabetes.
This was a cross-sectional study and conducted on 326 type 2 diabetes patients who referred to the Iranian Diabetes Society in 2016-2017. Data was collected by the Onyx and Bullen social capital questionnaire. This questionnaire has 36 items and 8 domains. The score range from 0 to 100. Data were analyzed by using statistical tests such as independent t-test, Pearson correlation coefficient, one-way ANOVA, and multiple regression.
The mean age of the patients was 55.33 (SD=11.32) years. The mean and (95% confidence interval) of the social capital score of participants was 45.72 (44.16-47.30). Among the eight domains of social capital, the highest mean score was related to the work connections domain 68.06 (63.90-72.22) and the lowest mean score was for the participation in the local communities domain 30.45 (27.97-32.93). The results of multiple regression model showed that gender had a significant association with trust and security where women had lower trust and security score than men (β=-7.88, P The findings indicated that women, patients with lower educational level and poor financial status due to low social capital were at greater risk of non-compliance of treatment and therefore the lack of favorable glucose control.