Introduction:

Mexican women have a higher prevalence of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and less compliance with T2DM self-care compared with Mexican men. The term marianismo refers to gender and religiocultural based beliefs that may be a barrier to self-care behaviors among Mexican women. The purpose of this study was to explore the relationship between marianismo beliefs and self-care behaviors in Mexican women with T2DM.

Methods:

This was a cross-sectional study among women with T2DM who attended primary care centers in Oaxaca, Mexico during 2019. The Summary of Diabetes Self-care Activities and the Marianismo Beliefs Scale were used to measure diabetes self-care and marianismo beliefs, respectively.

Results:

Among the 547 participants, those with higher marianismo beliefs reported significantly lower scores in diabetes self-care, (r = -.128), exercise (r = -.150), self-monitoring of blood glucose (r = -.119), foot care (r = -.093), and oral hygiene (r = -.114; all p < .01).

Discussion:

Findings suggest that Mexican women with strong marianismo beliefs are less likely to comply with T2DM self-care behaviors. Marianismo beliefs should be considered a potential risk factor for women’s health, since Mexican women may value the social recognition of maintaining these beliefs more than self-care.