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Prevalence of Chronic Disease and Their Risk Factors Among Iranian, Ukrainian, Vietnamese Refugees in California, 2002–2011

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Abstract

Little is known about how the health status of incoming refugees to the United States compares to that of the general population. We used logistic regression to assess whether country of origin is associated with prevalence of hypertension, obesity, type-II diabetes, and tobacco-use among Iranian, Ukrainian and Vietnamese refugees arriving in California from 2002 to 2011 (N = 21,968). We then compared the prevalence among refugees to that of the Californian general population (CGP). Ukrainian origin was positively associated with obesity and negatively with smoking, while the opposite was true for Vietnamese (p < 0.001). Iranian origin was positively associated with type-II diabetes and smoking (p < 0.001). After accounting for age and gender differences, refugees had lower prevalence of obesity and higher prevalence of smoking than CGP. Individually, all refugee groups had lower type-II diabetes prevalence than CGP. Grouping all refugees together can hide distinct health needs associated with country of origin.

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank the Medical Scholars Research Program at the Stanford School of Medicine for the financial support that made this study possible; the Refugee Health Program at the California Department of Public Health: Dr. Marisa Ramos, Ph.D., and Nuny Cabanting, M.P.H., for approving access to the data used in this study and for their expert guidance; Mylene Madrid and Dr. Andrea Polesky at the Santa Clara County Refugee Health Assessment Program for their expert guidance; and Anupé S. Sandhu and the California Department of Social Services’ Refugee Programs Bureau for providing refugee arrivals data that allowed us to verify whether our health screening data was representative of refugee arrivals.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Medicine, Stanford University, Medical School Office Building, 1265 Welch Road, Stanford, CA, 94305, USA

    Michelle-Linh Thuy Nguyen

  2. Division of General Medical Disciplines, Department of Medicine, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA

    David H. Rehkopf

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  1. Michelle-Linh Thuy Nguyen
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  2. David H. Rehkopf
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Correspondence to Michelle-Linh Thuy Nguyen.

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Nguyen, ML.T., Rehkopf, D.H. Prevalence of Chronic Disease and Their Risk Factors Among Iranian, Ukrainian, Vietnamese Refugees in California, 2002–2011. J Immigrant Minority Health 18, 1274–1283 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10903-015-0327-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10903-015-0327-5

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