title: Cardiovascular risk in Gullah African Americans with high familial risk of type 2 diabetes mellitus: project SuGAR.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To determine the prevalence of cardiovascular disease, levels of cardiovascular risk factors, and extent of preventive care in Gullah African Americans with a high familial risk of type 2 diabetes mellitus.
  
  
  METHODS
  Between 1995 and 2003, 1321 Gullah African Americans with a high prevalence of diabetes mellitus from the South Carolina Sea Islands consented to and enrolled in the Sea Islands Genetic African American Registry (Project SuGAR). A cross-sectional analysis of cardiometabolic risk, preventive care, and self-reported cardiovascular disease was conducted.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Cardiometabolic risk factor levels were high and vascular disease was prevalent. Among the subjects with diabetes mellitus, the mean disease duration was 10.5 years; approximately one-third reported reduced vision or blindness; and >80% reported numbness, pain, or burning in their feet. Preventive diabetes care was limited, with <60%, <25%, and <40% seeing an ophthalmologist, podiatrist, and dentist, respectively, within the past year. Only 54.4% of women and 39.3% of men reported daily glucose monitoring.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  As the largest existing study of Gullah individuals, our study offers insight into not only the level of cardiovascular risk in this population but also the pathophysiological mechanisms central to ancestral differences in cardiometabolic risk in the broader African American population.
authors.affiliation: From the Department of Public Health Sciences and the College of Nursing, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, and the Health Equity and Rural Outreach Innovation Center, Ralph H. Johnson Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Charleston, South Carolina, the Department of Nutrition Sciences, University of Alabama at Birmingham, and the Center for Public Health Genomics, University of Virginia, Charlottesville.
authors.forename: Kelly J
authors.initials: KJ
authors.lastname: Hunt
authors.affiliation: From the Department of Public Health Sciences and the College of Nursing, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, and the Health Equity and Rural Outreach Innovation Center, Ralph H. Johnson Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Charleston, South Carolina, the Department of Nutrition Sciences, University of Alabama at Birmingham, and the Center for Public Health Genomics, University of Virginia, Charlottesville.
authors.forename: Emily
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Kistner-Griffin
authors.affiliation: From the Department of Public Health Sciences and the College of Nursing, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, and the Health Equity and Rural Outreach Innovation Center, Ralph H. Johnson Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Charleston, South Carolina, the Department of Nutrition Sciences, University of Alabama at Birmingham, and the Center for Public Health Genomics, University of Virginia, Charlottesville.
authors.forename: Ida
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Spruill
authors.affiliation: From the Department of Public Health Sciences and the College of Nursing, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, and the Health Equity and Rural Outreach Innovation Center, Ralph H. Johnson Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Charleston, South Carolina, the Department of Nutrition Sciences, University of Alabama at Birmingham, and the Center for Public Health Genomics, University of Virginia, Charlottesville.
authors.forename: Abeba A
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Teklehaimanot
authors.affiliation: From the Department of Public Health Sciences and the College of Nursing, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, and the Health Equity and Rural Outreach Innovation Center, Ralph H. Johnson Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Charleston, South Carolina, the Department of Nutrition Sciences, University of Alabama at Birmingham, and the Center for Public Health Genomics, University of Virginia, Charlottesville.
authors.forename: W Timothy
authors.initials: WT
authors.lastname: Garvey
authors.affiliation: From the Department of Public Health Sciences and the College of Nursing, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, and the Health Equity and Rural Outreach Innovation Center, Ralph H. Johnson Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Charleston, South Carolina, the Department of Nutrition Sciences, University of Alabama at Birmingham, and the Center for Public Health Genomics, University of Virginia, Charlottesville.
authors.forename: Michèle
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sale
authors.affiliation: From the Department of Public Health Sciences and the College of Nursing, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, and the Health Equity and Rural Outreach Innovation Center, Ralph H. Johnson Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Charleston, South Carolina, the Department of Nutrition Sciences, University of Alabama at Birmingham, and the Center for Public Health Genomics, University of Virginia, Charlottesville.
authors.forename: Jyotika
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Fernandes
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001741:Black or African American / Q000208:ethnology*; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000208:ethnology* / Q000209:etiology / Q000517:prevention & control; D002648:Child; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003924:Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 / Q000150:complications / Q000208:ethnology* / Q000517:prevention & control; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015995:Prevalence; D012307:Risk Factors; D055502:Secondary Prevention / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D057566:Self Report; D013022:South Carolina / Q000453:epidemiology; D055815:Young Adult