title: High Rates of Diabetes Mellitus, Pre-diabetes and Obesity Among Somali Immigrants and Refugees in Minnesota: A Retrospective Chart Review.
abstract: We examined the prevalence of cardiovascular risk factors among Somali refugees at a midwestern hospital in the U.S. This was a retrospective cohort study of 1007 adult Somali patients and an age and frequency-matched cohort of non-Somali patients actively empanelled to a large, academic primary care practice network in the Midwest United States between January 1, 2011 and December 31, 2012. Cardiovascular risk factors were obtained by chart review and compared between the two cohorts using a Chi squared test. Median age was 35 years (Q1, Q3; 27, 50). The prevalence of diabetes was significantly higher among Somali versus non-Somali patients (12.1 vs 5.3 %; p = 0.0001), as was prediabetes (21.3 vs 17.2 %; p < 0.02) and obesity (34.6 vs 32.1 %; p = 0.047). After adjusting for age, sex, body mass index, education and employment, among the Somali patients, the odds ratio (95 % confidence interval) for diabetes was 2.78 (1.76-4.40) and 1.57 (1.16-2.13) for pre-diabetes. There was a significantly higher prevalence of diabetes, pre-diabetes and obesity among Somali patients compared with non-Somali patients. Further research into the specific causes of these disparities and development of targeted effective and sustainable interventions to address them is needed.
authors.affiliation: Division of Primary Care Internal Medicine, Mayo Clinic, 200 First Street, SW, Rochester, MN, 55905, USA. njeru.jane@mayo.edu.
authors.forename: Jane W
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Njeru
authors.affiliation: Mayo School of Graduate Medical Education, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, USA.
authors.forename: Eugene M
authors.initials: EM
authors.lastname: Tan
authors.affiliation: Division of Epidemiology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, USA.
authors.forename: Jennifer
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: St Sauver
authors.affiliation: Division of Biomedical Statistics and Informatics, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, USA.
authors.forename: Debra J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Jacobson
authors.affiliation: The Robert D. and Patricia E. Kern Center for the Science of Health Care Delivery, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, USA.
authors.forename: Amenah A
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Agunwamba
authors.affiliation: Health Policy and Research, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, USA.
authors.forename: Patrick M
authors.initials: PM
authors.lastname: Wilson
authors.affiliation: The Robert D. and Patricia E. Kern Center for the Science of Health Care Delivery, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, USA.
authors.forename: Lila J
authors.initials: LJ
authors.lastname: Rutten
authors.affiliation: Mayo School of Graduate Medical Education, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, USA.
authors.forename: Swathi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Damodaran
authors.affiliation: Division of Primary Care Internal Medicine, Mayo Clinic, 200 First Street, SW, Rochester, MN, 55905, USA.
authors.forename: Mark L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Wieland
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001741:Black or African American / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D000368:Aged; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000208:ethnology; D003920:Diabetes Mellitus / Q000208:ethnology*; D054242:Emigrants and Immigrants; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D008910:Minnesota / Q000453:epidemiology; D009765:Obesity / Q000208:ethnology*; D011236:Prediabetic State / Q000208:ethnology*; D015995:Prevalence; D011320:Primary Health Care; D012036:Refugees / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D012998:Somalia / Q000208:ethnology; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Cardiovascular risk factors; Diabetes; Prediabetes; Somali