title: Distribution and determinants of non communicable diseases among elderly Uyghur ethnic group in Xinjiang, China.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Non-communicable diseases (NCDs) are showing an increasing trend globally as well as in China. Elderly population are more prone to these NCDs. Situation in China is worse owing to the higher proportion of geriatric population. Burden of NCDs and the role of their socio-demographic and behavioral predictors among these elderly and more so among the ethnic minority groups among them, need to be investigated specifically, owing to their distinct genetic background, lifestyles and behavior.
  
  
  METHODS
  A cross-sectional study was conducted among 1329 randomly selected persons of Uyghur ethnicity, aged 60 years or more in Xinjiang, the largest administrative division in China to measure the burden of NCDs, understand the distribution of socio-demographic, behavioral and life event-related potential correlates of them and to estimate the association of the NCDs with these correlates.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Among these participants 54.2% were female, 86.8% were married and more than half had only attended elementary school or less. 41.46% was suffering from at least one NCD. 20.22% had one NCD, 12.11% had two and 8.58% had three or more. 27.3% had hypertension, 4.06% had diabetes, 6.02% had hyperlipidemia, 7.37% had angina, 14.52% had cardiovascular diseases, 11.59% had any kind of cancers and 9.78% had chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases. Rural residents (OR = 1.45, 95% CI: 1.17-1.80, AOR = 2.00, 95% CI: 1.53-2.61) and current smokers had higher odds of having more NCDs (AOR = 1.53, 95% CI: 1.00-2.34). Additionally not being satisfied with current life, not being able to take care of self in daily life, currently not being involved in farm work, less intake of fresh vegetables, fruits and garlic, too less or too much salt intake, not having hobbies were found to be positively associated with having more NCDs.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Implementation of effective intervention strategies to promote healthy life styles among the Uyghur elderly population of China seems urgent.
authors.affiliation: Department of health service management, School of Health Service Administration, Anhui medical university, Hefei, Anhui, China; Medical Department, The people's hospital of Xinjiang Uighur autonomous region, Urumqi, Xinjiang, China.
authors.forename: Lei
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Feng
authors.affiliation: Medical Department, The people's hospital of Xinjiang Uighur autonomous region, Urumqi, Xinjiang, China.
authors.forename: Ping
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Medical Department, The people's hospital of Xinjiang Uighur autonomous region, Urumqi, Xinjiang, China.
authors.forename: Xihua
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of health service management, School of Health Service Administration, Anhui medical university, Hefei, Anhui, China.
authors.forename: Zhi
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Hu
authors.affiliation: Department of health service management, School of Health Service Administration, Anhui medical university, Hefei, Anhui, China.
authors.forename: Ying
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Ma
authors.affiliation: Project-China, University of North Carolina, Guangzhou, China; Department of STI Control, Guangdong Center for Skin Diseases and STI Control, Guangzhou, China.
authors.forename: Weiming
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Tang
authors.affiliation: Medical Department, The people's hospital of Xinjiang Uighur autonomous region, Urumqi, Xinjiang, China.
authors.forename: Yanli
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Ben
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology, Fielding School of Public Health, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, United States of America.
authors.forename: Tanmay
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Mahapatra
authors.affiliation: Medical Department, The people's hospital of Xinjiang Uighur autonomous region, Urumqi, Xinjiang, China.
authors.forename: Xiaolin
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Cao
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology, Fielding School of Public Health, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, United States of America.
authors.forename: Sanchita
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Mahapatra
authors.affiliation: Medical Department, The people's hospital of Xinjiang Uighur autonomous region, Urumqi, Xinjiang, China.
authors.forename: Min
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ling
authors.affiliation: Medical Department, The people's hospital of Xinjiang Uighur autonomous region, Urumqi, Xinjiang, China.
authors.forename: Anshuan
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Gou
authors.affiliation: Medical Department, The people's hospital of Xinjiang Uighur autonomous region, Urumqi, Xinjiang, China.
authors.forename: Yanmei
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Medical Department, The people's hospital of Xinjiang Uighur autonomous region, Urumqi, Xinjiang, China.
authors.forename: Jiangqin
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Xiao
authors.affiliation: Medical Department, The people's hospital of Xinjiang Uighur autonomous region, Urumqi, Xinjiang, China.
authors.forename: Ming
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hou
authors.affiliation: Medical Department, The people's hospital of Xinjiang Uighur autonomous region, Urumqi, Xinjiang, China.
authors.forename: Xiuli
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Medical Department, The people's hospital of Xinjiang Uighur autonomous region, Urumqi, Xinjiang, China.
authors.forename: Bo
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.affiliation: Medical Department, The people's hospital of Xinjiang Uighur autonomous region, Urumqi, Xinjiang, China.
authors.forename: Faxing
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Wang
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology*; D002681:China; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000453:epidemiology*; D029424:Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive / Q000453:epidemiology*; D012424:Rural Population; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors