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Disparities in Chronic Disease Prevalence Among Non-Hispanic Whites: Heterogeneity Among Foreign-Born Arab and European Americans

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Abstract

We estimated and compared the sex- and age-adjusted prevalence of chronic diseases (diagnosis only and comorbidity) among US- and foreign-born whites from Europe and the Arab Nations and examined associations between region of birth and chronic disease. We evaluated 213,644 adults using restricted data from the National Health Interview Survey (2000–2011) by (1) chronic disease diagnosis only (heart disease, asthma, cancer, diabetes, ulcer, or obesity) and (2) comorbidity (none, diagnosis only, comorbid). We used logistic regression to examine associations between region of birth and chronic disease while controlling for confounders. Foreign-born whites from the Arab Nations had a higher prevalence of being diagnosed with ulcer (4 %) compared to US- and European-born whites (2 %). Foreign-born whites from the Arab Nations had a lower prevalence of comorbid cancer (1 %) and ulcer (3 %) yet had higher estimates of comorbid heart disease (18 %), asthma (5 %), and obesity (13 %) when compared to European-born whites (all ps < 0.05). Arab Americans had the highest prevalence of comorbid diabetes (8 %) compared to both European- (5 %) and US-born whites (6 %). In multivariate logistic regression models, Arab Americans had a lower odds of reporting cancer, heart disease, and asthma before and after controlling for covariates. Our study builds on existing literature for Arab Americans as the first study evaluating chronic disease prevalence among foreign-born whites from countries in the Arab League of Nations geographically located in the Middle East. Methodologically robust studies are needed to better understand the influence of acculturation, country of origin, and other characteristics influencing health among foreign-born whites.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Wellness, Health Promotion and Injury Prevention, Oakland University, 3148 Human Health Building, Rochester, MI, 48309-4428, USA

    Florence J. Dallo

  2. Department of Physician Assistant Studies, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, 6011 Harry Hines Blvd., Suite V4.114, Dallas, TX, 75390-9090, USA

    Tiffany B. Kindratt

Authors
  1. Florence J. Dallo
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Correspondence to Florence J. Dallo.

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Conflict of Interest

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Ethical Approval

All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards. Ethical approval was obtained by the National Center for Health Statistics prior to initial data collection. This study analyses de-identified public-use data. For this type of study, formal consent is not required.

Informed Consent

Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study prior to initial data collection by the National Center for Health Statistics. This study analyses de-identified public-use data. For this type of study, formal consent is not required.

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Dallo, F.J., Kindratt, T.B. Disparities in Chronic Disease Prevalence Among Non-Hispanic Whites: Heterogeneity Among Foreign-Born Arab and European Americans. J. Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities 3, 590–598 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40615-015-0178-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40615-015-0178-8

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