title: Profile of diabetes mellitus among immigrants from Guyana: epidemiology and implications for community action.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Prompted by anecdotal evidence of a higher rate of type 2 diabetes, we set out to investigate the prevalence of diabetes, its risk factors, and co-morbidities among immigrant Guyanese patients being treated in a family medicine health center in Schenectady, New York.
  
  
  METHODS
  Patients were ascertained from a registration database of all patients aged > or = 30 years who were treated from 2004 to 2006. We then conducted a detailed retrospective chart review of all Guyanese, Caucasian, African American, and Hispanic patients with diabetes and randomly selected non-diabetic controls.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Of 222 Guyanese patients, 67 (30.2%) had a diagnosis of diabetes, compared with 47/219 (21.5%) of Hispanics, 132/777 (17.0%) of African Americans, and 442/2834 (15.6%) of Caucasians (P<.0001). Compared with the other racial and ethnic groups, the Guyanese diabetic patients were significantly leaner and more likely to be male.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  We found a very high prevalence of type 2 diabetes among the Guyanese patient population studied and found unique characteristics when compared with other ethnic and racial groups. These findings have alerted local clinicians to intensify diabetes screening among Guyanese patients. Furthermore, in response to these findings, a broad coalition including public health, clinical, and community groups has been established with the goal of developing culturally appropriate strategies to prevent and control diabetes among Guyanese residents.
authors.affiliation: Department of Family Medicine, Ellis Hospital, Schenectady, NY 12304, USA. backe@ellismedicine.org
authors.forename: Ephraim E
authors.initials: EE
authors.lastname: Back
authors.forename: Avinash S
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Bachwani
authors.forename: David S
authors.initials: DS
authors.lastname: Strogatz
authors.forename: Zachary M V
authors.initials: ZM
authors.lastname: Sherman
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D015992:Body Mass Index; D003924:Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 / Q000208:ethnology*; D054242:Emigrants and Immigrants / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D006172:Guyana / Q000208:ethnology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009518:New York / Q000453:epidemiology; D015995:Prevalence; D014505:Urban Population / Q000706:statistics & numerical data