Prevalence of diabetes in New York City, 2002-2008: comparing foreign-born South Asians and other Asians with U.S.-born whites, blacks, and Hispanics

Abstract

Objective: To describe diabetes prevalence in New York City by race/ethnicity and nativity.

Research design and methods: Data were from the New York City 2002-2008 Community Health Surveys. Respondents were categorized on the basis of self-reported race/ethnicity and birth country: foreign-born South Asian (Indian subcontinent), foreign-born other Asian, U.S.-born non-Hispanic black, U.S.-born non-Hispanic white, and U.S.-born Hispanic. Diabetes status was defined by self-reported provider diagnosis. Multivariable models examined diabetes prevalence by race/ethnicity and birth country.

Results: Prevalence among foreign-born South Asians was nearly twice that of foreign-born other Asians (13.6 vs. 7.4%, P = 0.001). In multivariable analyses, normal-BMI foreign-born South Asians had nearly five times the diabetes prevalence of comparable U.S.-born non-Hispanic whites (14.1 vs. 2.9%, P < 0.001) and 2.5 times higher prevalence than foreign-born other Asians (P < 0.001).

Conclusions: Evaluating Asians as one group masks the higher diabetes burden among South Asians. Researchers and clinicians should be aware of differences in this population.

Figure 1

Prevalence of self-reported diabetes diagnosis among adults aged ≥18 years, New York City, 2002–2008, by BMI category, adjusted for age, sex, marital status, education, poverty level, insurance status, having a primary care provider, and employment status. Prevalence calculated using standard BMI categorizations (A) and Asian-specific BMI categorizations, applied only to South Asians and other Asians (B). *P < 0.05 compared with South Asians. †Standard: normal BMI, 18.5 to <25 kg/m²; overweight BMI, 25 to <30 kg/m²; obese BMI, ≥30 kg/m². ‡Asian-specific: normal BMI, 18.5 to <23 kg/m²; overweight BMI, 23 to <27.5 kg/m²; obese BMI, ≥27.5 kg/m².