High prevalence rates of diabetes and hypertension among refugee psychiatric patients.
There is increasing evidence that immigrants and traumatized individuals have elevated prevalence of medical disease. This study focuses on 459 Vietnamese, Cambodian, Somali, and Bosnian refugee psychiatric patients to determine the prevalence of hypertension and diabetes. The prevalence of hypertension was 42% and of diabetes was 15.5%. This was significantly higher than the US norms, especially in the groups younger than 65. Diabetes and hypertension were higher in the high-trauma versus low-trauma groups. However, in the subsample with body mass index (BMI) measurements subjected to logistic regression, only BMI was related to diabetes, and BMI and age were related to hypertension. Immigrant status, presence of psychiatric disorder, history of psychological trauma, and obesity probably all contributed to the high prevalence rate. With 2.5 million refugees in the country, there is a strong public health concern for cardiovascular disease in this group.
Kinzie
John David
JD
Department of Psychiatry, Oregon Health and Science University, Portland, Oregon 97239, USA. kinziej@ohsu.edu
Riley
Crystal
C
McFarland
Bentson
B
Hayes
Meg
M
Boehnlein
James
J
Leung
Paul
P
Adams
Greg
G
D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001786:Blood Glucose / Q000378:metabolism; D001794:Blood Pressure; D015992:Body Mass Index; D015897:Comorbidity; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology; D003906:Developing Countries; D003924:Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology; D005006:Ethnicity / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D006442:Glycated Hemoglobin / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology; D008016:Life Change Events; D008297:Male; D017533:Marital Status; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology; D008875:Middle Aged; D009765:Obesity / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology; D012016:Reference Values; D012036:Refugees / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012307:Risk Factors; D013313:Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology; D014481:United States
D001786:Blood Glucose; D006442:Glycated Hemoglobin