RESEARCH ARTICLE

Illness beliefs and the soc diabetes self-managemen y3 e w [1,2]. T2D is caused by the body’s ineffective use of insu-lin and has been linked to structural factors including; the number and complexity of tasks involved in main-taining optimum blood sugar levels [3]. Whilst a number Patel et al. BMC Family Practice (2015) 16:58 DOI 10.1186/s12875-015-0269-yhaviours related to self-management of diabetes is theM13 9PT, UK Full list of author information is available at the end of the articleage, ethnicity and genetic pre-disposition and lifestyle factors including obesity and physical inactivity [1]. There is no one explanation for the increased prevalence of T2D in South Asians; factors such as diet, migration of barriers have been reported to impede optimal self-management in South Asians [4], fatalistic beliefs, cultural and social norms and their influence on diabetes-related beliefs [5-8] have received most interest in the literature. Understanding beliefs about diabetes are important to know how people make sense of and manage their ill-ness [9]. A theoretical model that is useful in describing and understanding patterns of beliefs and predicting be