Aim: To determine the clinical features and the metabolic control in immigrant diabetic patients in two Primary Care centres in La Rioja, Spain. Design: Descriptive study. Setting: Two urban Primary Care centres which cover a population of 11,700 and 23,000 patients in Logroño. Primary outcomes: Socio-demographic variables (age, sex, origin country of origin, age at onset of diabetes), clinical variables (blood pressure, waist circumference (WC), high, weight, BMI) and analytical variables (fasting blood glucose, HbA1c, lipid profile). The immunology of DM and baseline C-peptide were studied in patients younger than 40 years old. Participants: A total of 70 diabetic immigrants, aged between 18 and 70 years old and registered until December 31 st 2009, and 70 Spanish-born diabetic patients were selected by consecutive sampling. Results: The final sample consisted of 140 patients (70 immigrants, 70 Spanish). Mean age of Spanish-born diabetics, 55.5 years, of immigrants 45.7 years (P =.002).Age at diagnosis 38.4 years in immigrants and 48.1 years in autochthonous (P =.004).WC in immigrants 104.1 cm, in Spanish-born, 105.3 cm (P =.56).BMI in immigrants 29, in Spanish-born 32.1 (P =.06).Mean glycated haemoglobin (HbA1c) in immigrants 8.4%, in Spanish-born 7.5% (P =.002). Blood pressure and lipid values were lower in Hindustani and North African patients than in Spanish-born and other immigrant groups. Conclusions: Immigrant diabetic patients are younger at diagnosis, have an unchanged baseline C-peptide secretion, higher HbA1c levels, higher WC with lower BMI compared to Spanish-born patients. © 2010 Elsevier España, S.L. All rights reserved.

Differences immigrants Diabetes mellitus metabolic control

urban population immigrant multicenter study clinical trial metabolism blood pressure Waist Circumference clinical feature human middle aged diabetes mellitus comparative study Aged hemoglobin A1c Cross-Sectional Studies lipid diabetic patient cross-sectional study Humans male Emigrants and Immigrants Spain female Article C peptide glucose blood level major clinical study adult migration body weight glucose body mass metabolic regulation body height onset age