Journal of Immigrant and Minority Health
Volume 18, Issue 6, 2016, Pages 1343-1349

High Rates of Diabetes Mellitus, Pre-diabetes and Obesity Among Somali Immigrants and Refugees in Minnesota: A Retrospective Chart Review (Article)

Njeru J.W.* , Tan E.M. , St. Sauver J. , Jacobson D.J. , Agunwamba A.A. , Wilson P.M. , Rutten L.J. , Damodaran S. , Wieland M.L.
  • a Division of Primary Care Internal Medicine, Mayo Clinic, 200 First Street, SW, Rochester, MN 55905, United States
  • b Mayo School of Graduate Medical Education, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, United States
  • c Division of Epidemiology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, United States
  • d Division of Biomedical Statistics and Informatics, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, United States
  • e The Robert D. and Patricia E. Kern Center for the Science of Health Care Delivery, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, United States
  • f Health Policy and Research, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, United States
  • g The Robert D. and Patricia E. Kern Center for the Science of Health Care Delivery, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, United States
  • h Mayo School of Graduate Medical Education, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, United States
  • i Division of Primary Care Internal Medicine, Mayo Clinic, 200 First Street, SW, Rochester, MN 55905, United States

Abstract

We examined the prevalence of cardiovascular risk factors among Somali refugees at a midwestern hospital in the U.S. This was a retrospective cohort study of 1007 adult Somali patients and an age and frequency-matched cohort of non-Somali patients actively empanelled to a large, academic primary care practice network in the Midwest United States between January 1, 2011 and December 31, 2012. Cardiovascular risk factors were obtained by chart review and compared between the two cohorts using a Chi squared test. Median age was 35 years (Q1, Q3; 27, 50). The prevalence of diabetes was significantly higher among Somali versus non-Somali patients (12.1 vs 5.3 %; p = 0.0001), as was prediabetes (21.3 vs 17.2 %; p < 0.02) and obesity (34.6 vs 32.1 %; p = 0.047). After adjusting for age, sex, body mass index, education and employment, among the Somali patients, the odds ratio (95 % confidence interval) for diabetes was 2.78 (1.76–4.40) and 1.57 (1.16–2.13) for pre-diabetes. There was a significantly higher prevalence of diabetes, pre-diabetes and obesity among Somali patients compared with non-Somali patients. Further research into the specific causes of these disparities and development of targeted effective and sustainable interventions to address them is needed. © 2015, Springer Science+Business Media New York.

Author Keywords

Cardiovascular risk factors diabetes Prediabetes Somali

Index Keywords

refugee Cardiovascular Diseases human epidemiology Refugees middle aged statistics and numerical data diabetes mellitus obesity Aged Minnesota ethnology African American United States Young Adult Humans migrant cardiovascular disease Adolescent male Emigrants and Immigrants female risk factor Risk Factors prevalence Retrospective Studies adult Prediabetic State Somalia retrospective study African Americans primary health care impaired glucose tolerance
Link
https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-84944699617&doi=10.1007%2fs10903-015-0280-3&partnerID=40&md5=7d23cdb90b4796cbfe2bdcb57b3223cb
DOI: 10.1007/s10903-015-0280-3
ISSN: 15571912
Cited by: 12
Original Language: English