Online Program

285551
An immigrant diabetes disadvantage? diabetes among US versus foreign born immigrants in east harlem, New York


Tuesday, November 5, 2013 : 2:50 p.m. - 3:10 p.m.

Ashley Fox, PhD, MA, Department of Health Evidence and Policy, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, NY
Euny C. Lee, MS, Department of Health Evidence and Policy, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, NY
Kezhen Fei, MS, Department of Population Health Science and Policy, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY
Janice Scobie, MD MS, Department of Health Evidence and Policy, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, NY
Carol R. Horowitz, MD, MPH, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY
Ellen P. Simon, DSW, Administration, Union Settlement Association, New York, NY
Results across a variety of health conditions show an immigrant health advantage. One potential exception is diabetes, which is high among both U.S. born and foreign born Latinos. However, few studies have specifically examined differences in diabetes rates between U.S. and foreign born Latinos and studies that have use limited biomarker data. The present study draws on a unique cohort of overweight residents of East Harlem, New York, an epicenter of the Latino diabetes epidemic. Oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) were administered to 646 overweight (BMI 25+) English and Spanish speaking adult (18+) residents of East Harlem to assess prevalence of diabetes and pre-diabetes. Biological data on height and weight were collected to measure BMI. Respondents were asked about whether they were born in the US, how long they had been in the US, their race, ethnicity and nationality, and a serious of questions about health related behaviors. This study compares rates of diabetes between foreign born and US born respondents controlling for race, gender, bmi, employment, education, income and insurance status and stratified by nationality (Puerto Rico, Mexico, Dominican Republican). Unadjusted and adjusted logistic regression results showed that foreign born Latinos were two times more likely be diabetic compared with individuals born in the U.S. Surprisingly, most of this immigrant health disadvantage was explained by being born in Puerto Rico whereas being born in Mexico and the Dominican Republic was protective. More research needs to explore the mechanisms that create a higher risk for diabetes among Puerto Rican immigrants.

Learning Areas:

Public health or related public policy
Public health or related research
Social and behavioral sciences

Learning Objectives:
Describe the immigrant health paradox and how it affects Latino communities List the reasons why an immigrant health paradox is thought to exist Compare foreign born and US born Latinos in terms of their diabetes risk Analyze reasons for the lack of a diabetes paradox among Latinos

Keyword(s): Diabetes, Latino

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I am a trained social epidemiologist whose research focusses on the social determinants of health and have been working on the NIMHD funded grant that this research comes from for the past two years as the lead evaluator on the study.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.