Skip to main content
Key Specialties
Cardiology Diabetology Endocrinology Gastroenterology Geriatrics and Gerontology Gynecology and Obstetrics Hematology Infectious Disease Internal Medicine Nephrology Neurology Oncology Pediatrics Respiratory Medicine Rheumatology Surgery
Congress Coverage
2024 ACC Congress 2023 ESMO Congress 2023 EASD Congress 2023 ERS Congress 2023 ESC Congress 2023 EHA Congress 2023 ASCO Annual Meeting
Clinical Collections
Advances in Alzheimer’s

At a glance: The ONWARDS insulin icodec trials

A round-up of the ONWARDS phase 3 clinical trials evaluating the novel weekly insulin icodec in people with diabetes.
ADVANCED SEARCH
Log in
Top
BMC Public Health
Published in: BMC Public Health 1/2018

Open Access 01-12-2018 | Research article

Hypertension, overweight/obesity, and diabetes among immigrants in the United States: an analysis of the 2010–2016 National Health Interview Survey

Authors: Yvonne Commodore-Mensah, Elizabeth Selvin, Jonathan Aboagye, Ruth-Alma Turkson-Ocran, Ximin Li, Cheryl Dennison Himmelfarb, Rexford S. Ahima, Lisa A. Cooper

Published in: BMC Public Health | Issue 1/2018

Login to get access

Abstract

Background

Ethnic minority populations in the United States (US) are disproportionately affected by cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors, including hypertension, overweight/obesity, and diabetes. The size and diversity of ethnic minority immigrant populations in the US have increased substantially over the past three decades. However, most studies on immigrants in the US are limited to Asians and Hispanics; only a few have examined the prevalence of CVD risk factors across diverse immigrant populations. The prevalence of diagnosed hypertension, overweight/obesity, and diagnosed diabetes was examined and contrasted among a socioeconomically diverse sample of immigrants. It was hypothesized that considerable variability would exist in the prevalence of hypertension, overweight and diabetes.

Methods

A cross-sectional analysis of the 2010–2016 National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) was conducted among 41,717 immigrants born in Europe, South America, Mexico/Central America/Caribbean, Russia, Africa, Middle East, Indian subcontinent, Asia and Southeast Asia. The outcomes were the prevalence of diagnosed hypertension, overweight/obesity, and diagnosed diabetes.

Results

The highest multivariable adjusted prevalence of diagnosed hypertension was observed in Russian (24.2%) and Southeast Asian immigrants (23.5%). Immigrants from Mexico/Central America/Caribbean and the Indian subcontinent had the highest prevalence of overweight/obesity (71.5 and 73.4%, respectively) and diagnosed diabetes (9.6 and 10.1%, respectively). Compared to European immigrants, immigrants from Mexico/Central America/Caribbean and the Indian subcontinent respectively had higher prevalence of overweight/obesity (Prevalence Ratio (PR): 1.19[95% CI, 1.13–1.24]) and (PR: 1.22[95% CI, 1.14–1.29]), and diabetes (PR: 1.70[95% CI, 1.42–2.03]) and (PR: 1.78[95% CI, 1.36–2.32]). African immigrants and Middle Eastern immigrants had a higher prevalence of diabetes (PR: 1.41[95% CI, 1.01–1.96]) and PR: 1.57(95% CI: 1.09–2.25), respectively, than European immigrants —without a corresponding higher prevalence of overweight/obesity.

Conclusions

Immigrants from Mexico/Central America/Caribbean and the Indian subcontinent bore the highest burden of overweight/obesity and diabetes while those from Southeast Asia and Russia bore the highest burden of hypertension.
Literature
1.
Mozaffarian D, Benjamin EJ, Go AS, Arnett DK, Blaha MJ, Cushman M, et al. Heart disease and stroke Statistics-2016 update: a report from the American Heart Association. Circulation. 2016;133:e38–e360.CrossRefPubMed
2.
Selvin E, Parrinello CM, Sacks DB, Coresh J. Trends in prevalence and control of diabetes in the United States, 1988-1994 and 1999-2010. Ann Intern Med. 2014;160:517–25.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral
3.
American Diabetes Association. The cost of diabetes. American Diabetes Association; 2015.
4.
Dugani S, Gaziano TA. 25 by 25: achieving global reduction in cardiovascular mortality. Curr Cardiol Rep 2016; 18:10–015–0679-4.
5.
World Health Organization. Global report on diabetes. Geneva, Switzerland; 2016
6.
World Health Organization. Raised Blood Pressure. Geneva, Switzerland; 2016. 
7.
Zong J, Batalova J. Frequently requested statistics on immigrants and immigration in the United States; 2017.
8.
Pew Research Center. “Modern Immigration Wave Brings 59 Million to U.S., Driving Population Growth and Change Through 2065: Views of Immigration’s Impact on U.S. Society Mixed; 2015.
9.
Commodore-Mensah Y, Ukonu N, Obisesan O, Aboagye JK, Agyemang C, Reilly CM, et al. Length of residence in the United States is associated with a higher prevalence of Cardiometabolic risk factors in immigrants: a contemporary analysis of the National Health Interview Survey. J Am Heart Assoc. 2016. https://​doi.​org/​10.​1161/​JAHA.​116.​004059.
10.
McDonald JT, Kennedy S. Insights into the 'healthy immigrant effect': health status and health service use of immigrants to Canada. Soc Sci Med. 2004;59:1613–27.CrossRefPubMed
11.
National Center for Health Statistics. National Health Interview Survey, 2010-2014. Public-use data file and documentation 2015; 2016.
12.
WHO Expert Consultation. Appropriate body-mass index for Asian populations and its implications for policy and intervention strategies. Lancet. 2004;363:157–63.CrossRef
13.
National Health Interview Survey. Variance Estimation and Other Analytic Issues, NHIS 2006–2014; 2015. 
14.
Williams R. Using the margins command to estimate and interpret adjusted predictions and marginal effects. Stata J. 2012;12:308–26.
15.
Muller CJ, MacLehose RF. Estimating predicted probabilities from logistic regression: different methods correspond to different target populations. Int J Epidemiol. 2014;43:962–70.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral
16.
Fang J, Moore L, Loustalot F, Yang Q, Ayala C. Reporting of adherence to healthy lifestyle behaviors among hypertensive adults in the 50 states and the District of Columbia, 2013. J Am Soc Hypertens. 2016;10:252–262.e3.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral
17.
Blackwell DL, Lucas JW, Clarke TC. Summary health statistics for U.S. adults: national health interview survey, 2012. Vital Health Stat. 2014;10(260):1–161.
18.
Sorlie PD, Allison MA, Aviles-Santa ML, Cai J, Daviglus ML, Howard AG, et al. Prevalence of hypertension, awareness, treatment, and control in the Hispanic community health study/study of Latinos. Am J Hypertens. 2014;27:793–800.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral
19.
Benjamin EJ, Blaha MJ, Chiuve SE, Cushman M, Das SR, Deo R et al. Heart disease and stroke Statistics-2017 update: a report from the American Heart Association. Circulation 2017.
20.
Commodore-Mensah Y, Samuel LJ, Dennison-Himmelfarb CR, Agyemang C. Hypertension and overweight/obesity in Ghanaians and Nigerians living in West Africa and industrialized countries: a systematic review. J Hypertens. 2014;32:464–72.CrossRefPubMed
21.
Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation. Global Burden of Disease Profile: Russia.; 2017.
22.
Commodore-Mensah Y, Dennison Himmelfarb CR, Agyemang C, Sumner AE. Cardiometabolic health in African immigrants to the United States: a call to re-examine research on African-descent populations. Ethn Dis. 2015;25:373–80.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral
23.
Commodore-Mensah Y, Matthie N, Wells J, B Dunbar S, Himmelfarb CD, Cooper LA, Chandler RD. African Americans, African immigrants, and afro-Caribbeans differ in social determinants of hypertension and diabetes: evidence from the national health interview survey. J Racial Ethn Health Disparities. 2017. https://​doi.​org/​10.​1007/​s40615-017-0446-x.
24.
Wagner J, Burke G, Kuoch T, Scully M, Armeli S, Rajan TV. Trauma, healthcare access, and health outcomes among southeast Asian refugees in Connecticut. J Immigr Minor Health. 2013;15:1065–72.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral
25.
Ursua RA, Islam NS, Aguilar DE, Wyatt LC, Tandon SD, Abesamis-Mendoza N, et al. Predictors of hypertension among Filipino immigrants in the northeast US. J Community Health. 2013;38:847–55.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral
26.
Johnson-Kozlow M, Matt GE, Rock CL, de la Rosa R, Conway TL, Romero RA. Assessment of dietary intakes of Filipino-Americans: implications for food frequency questionnaire design. J Nutr Educ Behav. 2011;43:505–10.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral
27.
Mueller M, Purnell TS, Mensah GA, Cooper LA. Reducing racial and ethnic disparities in hypertension prevention and control: what will it take to translate research into practice and policy? Am J Hypertens. 2015;28:699–716.CrossRefPubMed
28.
Beune EJ, Haafkens JA, Agyemang C, Bindels PJ. Inhibitors and enablers of physical activity in multiethnic hypertensive patients: qualitative study. J Hum Hypertens. 2010;24:280–90.CrossRefPubMed
29.
Commodore-Mensah Y, Hill M, Allen J, Cooper LA, Blumenthal R, Agyemang C, Himmelfarb CD. Sex differences in cardiovascular disease risk of Ghanaian and Nigerian-born west African immigrants in the United States: the Afro-Cardiac study. J Am Heart Assoc. 2016;5:e002385. https://​doi.​org/​10.​1161/​JAHA.​115.​002385.
30.
Rtveladze K, Marsh T, Barquera S, Sanchez Romero LM, Levy D, Melendez G, et al. Obesity prevalence in Mexico: impact on health and economic burden. Public Health Nutr. 2014;17:233–9.CrossRefPubMed
31.
Rodriguez BL, Curb JD, Burchfiel CM, Huang B, Sharp DS, Lu GY, et al. Impaired glucose tolerance, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease risk factor profiles in the elderly. The Honolulu heart program. Diabetes Care. 1996;19:587–90.CrossRefPubMed
32.
Zong, J. & Batalova, J. Asian immigrants in the United States. 2016; 2017.
33.
34.
Enas EA, Mohan V, Deepa M, Farooq S, Pazhoor S, Chennikkara H. The metabolic syndrome and dyslipidemia among Asian Indians: a population with high rates of diabetes and premature coronary artery disease. J Cardiometab Syndr. 2007;2:267–75.CrossRefPubMed
Metadata
Title
Hypertension, overweight/obesity, and diabetes among immigrants in the United States: an analysis of the 2010–2016 National Health Interview Survey
Authors
Yvonne Commodore-Mensah
Elizabeth Selvin
Jonathan Aboagye
Ruth-Alma Turkson-Ocran
Ximin Li
Cheryl Dennison Himmelfarb
Rexford S. Ahima
Lisa A. Cooper
Publication date
01-12-2018
Publisher
BioMed Central
Published in
BMC Public Health / Issue 1/2018
Electronic ISSN: 1471-2458
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-018-5683-3

Other articles of this Issue 1/2018

BMC Public Health 1/2018 Go to the issue

Research article

Validity and reliability of an adapted arabic version of the long international physical activity questionnaire

Research article

Co-existence of physical activity and sedentary behavior among children and adolescents in Shanghai, China: do gender and age matter?

Research article

The impact of indigenous cultural identity and cultural engagement on violent offending

Research article

Characteristics of individuals receiving disability benefits in the Netherlands and predictors of leaving the disability benefit scheme: a retrospective cohort study with five-year follow-up

Research article

Associations between ideational variables and bed net use in Madagascar, Mali, and Nigeria

Research article

Universal health coverage in the context of population ageing: What determines health insurance enrolment in rural Ghana?