title: A Health Profile of Arab Americans in Michigan: A Novel Approach to Using a Hospital Administrative Database.
abstract: The objectives of this study were to estimate and compare the prevalence of heart disease, cancer, chronic lower respiratory disease, stroke, Alzheimer's, diabetes, nephrosis, flu/pneumonia, hypertension, and atherosclerosis between Arab Americans and whites attending a large, metropolitan hospital system. The sample included 68,047 patients, 18 years of age or older, who visited the hospital during 2012. Demographic and disease variables were electronically abstracted. Demographic characteristics were compared between Arab Americans and whites using Chi square tests. Sex specific, age-adjusted prevalence ratios (PR) and 95 % confidence intervals were estimated for these two groups using a log-binomial regression model. Compared to white men, Arab American men had a higher prevalence of diabetes (PR 1.40, 95 % CI 1.29-1.52) and hypertension (PR 1.07, 95 % CI 1.04-1.10), and a lower prevalence of chronic lower respiratory disease (PR 0.74, 95 % CI 0.66-0.83). Compared to white women, Arab American women had a higher prevalence of chronic lower respiratory disease (PR 1.12, 95 % CI 1.01-1.25), diabetes (PR 1.49, 95 % CI 1.38-1.60), influenza/pneumonia (PR 1.26, 95 % CI 1.05-1.51) and hypertension (PR 1.04, 95 % CI 1.01-1.08). This study supports previous findings that health disparities exist for Arab Americans, who are classified as "white" in health statistics. Standard inclusion of Arab American as a separate ethnicity category will aid researchers in assessing the health care needs of this growing minority community.
authors.affiliation: School of Health Sciences, Oakland University, 3148 Human Health Building, Rochester, MI, 48309-4428, USA. dallo@oakland.edu.
authors.forename: Florence J
authors.initials: FJ
authors.lastname: Dallo
authors.affiliation: Department of Oncology, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI, USA.
authors.forename: Julie J
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Ruterbusch
authors.affiliation: School of Health Sciences, Oakland University, 3148 Human Health Building, Rochester, MI, 48309-4428, USA.
authors.forename: Joseph David
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Kirma
authors.affiliation: Department of Family Medicine and Public Health Sciences, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI, USA.
authors.forename: Kendra
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Schwartz
authors.affiliation: Minority Outreach Program, Beaumont Cancer Institute, Royal Oak, MI, USA.
authors.forename: Monty
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Fakhouri
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000208:ethnology; D018912:Arabs / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000208:ethnology; D003625:Data Collection / Q000379:methods*; D016208:Databases, Factual / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D003920:Diabetes Mellitus / Q000208:ethnology; D005260:Female; D006304:Health Status; D006761:Hospitals / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008824:Michigan / Q000453:epidemiology; D008875:Middle Aged; D009401:Nephrosis / Q000208:ethnology; D011014:Pneumonia / Q000208:ethnology; D015995:Prevalence; D029424:Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive / Q000208:ethnology; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012737:Sex Factors; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Arab American; Causes of death; Hospital database