American Journal of Public Health
Volume 104, Issue SUPPL.2, 2014, Pages S234-S250

Immigrant generation and diabetes risk among Mexican Americans: The sacramento area latino study on aging [Las generaciones de inmigrantes y sus descendientes y el riesgo de diabetes en la població n de los Estados Unidos de origen o ascendencia mexicana: el Estudio sobre Envejecimiento en Latinos del Área de Sacramento (estudio SALSA)] (Article)

Afable-Munsuz A.* , Rose Mayeda E. , Pérez-Stable E.J. , Haan M.N.
  • a Division of General Internal Medicine, Department of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco, United States
  • b Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of California, San Francisco, United States
  • c Department of Medicine, Medical Effectiveness Research Center for Diverse Populations, University of California, San Francisco, United States
  • d Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of California, San Francisco, United States

Abstract

Objectives. We examined whether acculturation and immigrant generation, a marker for assimilation, are associated with diabetes risk in an aging Mexicanorigin population. Methods. We analyzed data on 1789 adults aged 60 to 101 years from the Sacramento Area Latino Study on Aging. Weascertained type 2 diabetes on the basis of diabetic medication use, self-report of physician diagnosis, or a fasting glucose of 126 milligrams/deciliter or greater. Logistic regression modeled prevalent diabetes. Results. Adjusting for age and gender, we observed significant but divergent associations between immigrant generation, acculturation, and diabetes risk. Relative to first-generation adults, second-generation adults had an odds ratio (OR) of 1.8 (95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.4, 2.4) and third-generation adults had an OR of 2.1 (95% CI = 1.4, 3.1) of having diabetes. Greater US acculturation, however, was associated with a slightly decreased diabetes rate. In the full model adjusting for socioeconomic and lifestyle factors, the association between generation (but not acculturation) and diabetes remained significant. Conclusions. Our study lends support to the previously contested notion that assimilation is associated with an increased diabetes risk in Mexican immigrants. Researchers should examine the presence of a causal link between assimilation and health more closely.

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Link
https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-84900481369&partnerID=40&md5=2d5243ca1aea66a5231aae4c75211515
ISSN: 00900036
Cited by: 12
Original Language: English; Spanish