Background: Previous studies have reported an increasing prevalence of metabolic abnormalities in immigrants who moved from low-cardiovascular-risk regions to Western countries, but little is known about time trends following immigration. Methods: A retrospective cohort study of immigrants from Ethiopia in east Africa (EAI), the former Soviet Union (FSUI) and native-born Israelis (NBI) over a 35-year period. EAI were divided into three groups by date of immigration. Associations between ethnicity, age, sex and metabolic risk factors were assessed using logistic regression models. Results: The study included 58,901 individuals (20,768 EAI, 20,507 FSUI, and 17,626 NBI). The multivariate odds ratios (OR) for diabetes were 2.4 (95 % CI 2.1-2.6), 2.1 (95 % CI 1.9-2.2) and 1.5 (95 % CI 1.3-1.7), respectively, for the three waves of EAI immigrations (P < 0.001 for trend) and 1.1 (95 % CI 0.9-1.2) for FSUI. For hypertension, the corresponding ORs were 1.8 (95 % CI 1.6-1.9), 1.4 (95 % CI 1.3-1.5), and 1.1 (95 % CI 0.9-1.2), respectively (P < 0.001) for EAI, and 2.1 (95 % CI 1.9-2.2) for FSUI. For obesity the ORs were -0.5 (95 % CI 0.4-0.6), 0.5 (95 % CI 0.4-0.6), and 0.3 (95 % CI 0.2-0.3), respectively (P < 0.001) for EAI, and 1.2 (95 % CI 1.1-1.3) for FSUI. The prevalence of diabetes in NBI with a BMI of 30 was identical to a BMI of 23.4 for EAI and 28.9 for FSUI. Conclusions: The prevalence of diabetes and hypertension was higher in EAI and increased over the years, despite a lower prevalence of obesity. It exceeded the prevalence rates in NBI. © 2016 Reuven et al.

Ethiopian immigrants Cardiovascular-risk factors East African immigrants Body-mass index Former Soviet Union immigrants Ethnicity diabetes

Russian (people) immigrant human Israeli epidemiology middle aged Ethiopian Cohort Studies statistics and numerical data diabetes mellitus obesity comparative study hypertension USSR Aged Logistic Models ethnology Humans migrant ethnic difference male Emigrants and Immigrants female risk factor Risk Factors Africa prevalence Article Retrospective Studies adult dyslipidemia cohort analysis statistical model retrospective study body mass Africa, Eastern