Estimation of diabetes prevalence among immigrants from the Middle East in Sweden by using three different data
P E Wändell1, S E Johansson, C Gåfvels
1Center for Family and Community Medicine Stockholm, Karolinska Institutet, Alfred Nobels allé 12, SE-141 83 Huddinge, Sweden. Per.Wandell@ki.se
Aims:
To estimate diabetes prevalence in immigrants from the Middle East in Sweden compared with Swedish-born subjects. This group accounts for around 15% of Sweden's non-European immigrants.
Methods:
Three samples were used: self-reported diabetes in a random sample (SALLS sample) of subjects aged 35-64 years in Sweden (n=22,032); known diabetes among patients aged 35-64 years in primary care (PC) at four primary healthcare centers in Stockholm County (n=30,679); and known and newly diagnosed diabetes in a random population sample of subjects aged 60 years in Stockholm County (n=4106).
Results:
The odds ratio (OR) for subjects from the Middle East was: 1.69 (95% confidence interval [CI] 0.96-2.99) in the SALLS sample; 4.43 (95% CI 3.38-5.56) in the PC sample; and 3.96 (95% CI 1.98-7.92) in the age-60 sample, compared with native Swedes. Subjects from European and other Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries showed an excess risk only in the SALLS sample (1.43, 95% CI 1.11-1.83).
Conclusions:
Immigrants from the Middle East showed a four-fold higher risk of diabetes compared with Swedish-born subjects in two of the three data sources. More studies are needed to confirm these results, but the findings call for targeted preventative strategies in this population group.
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