Premium
Duration of residence, age at migration, and diabetes risk among U.S. immigrants
Author(s) -
OzaFrank Reena,
Narayan K.M. Venkat
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.23.1_supplement.547.17
Subject(s) - residence , medicine , demography , odds ratio , diabetes mellitus , logistic regression , immigration , obesity , duration (music) , odds , body mass index , type 2 diabetes , gerontology , geography , endocrinology , art , literature , archaeology , sociology
Among U.S. immigrants, there are few data on the effect of duration of residence on diabetes risk. We assessed the association between duration of residence and diabetes prevalence and investigated whether this association is modified by age at immigration. We used nationally representative data on immigrant adults aged 18+ years from the National Health Interview Survey, pooled for years 1997‐2005 (n=33,499). We performed multivariable logistic regression analyses to estimate adjusted prevalence of diabetes by duration of residence. Among immigrants, diabetes prevalence was higher with increased duration of residence in the U.S, independent of age and body mass index (<5 years duration: 3.3%; 5‐<10y: 3.4%; 10‐<15y: 4.5%; 15+y: 5.3%; p for trend < 0.001). Duration has the strongest effect on diabetes prevalence among immigrants who arrive at 25‐44 years of age (prevalence: 1.4% for <5y duration vs. 11.1% for 15+y; odds ratio=9.7 (95% CI: 5.2‐18.1)). However, those who arrive at 45‐74 years of age are also at increased risk of diabetes with increased duration (prevalence: 9.5% for <5y duration vs. 17.4% for 15+y; odds ratio=2.1 (95% CI: 1.2‐3.9)). We found that among U.S. immigrants, diabetes prevalence increased with increasing duration of residence, independent of age and obesity and this association was modified by age at immigration. Duration of residence may have a more unfavorable impact on immigrants who arrive at younger ages, but migrants who arrive at older ages are also at increased risk of developing diabetes. These results suggest that duration may have an independent effect on diabetes risk, over and above aging and obesity, among the growing population of immigrants in the U.S.