Ethnic Disparities in Chronic Diseases: Comparison Between Arabs and Jews in Israel

The lifestyle of the Arab population in Israel has changed in the last few decades, and modernization and urbanization have impacted the prevalence of chronic diseases.

To investigate the prevalence of chronic diseases in the Arab population compared to the Jewish population in Israel.

This retrospective study included Arab and Jewish people insured by Israel's largest health maintenance organization. Demographic data and data regarding chronic diseases were collected. Crude prevalence and age group adjusted prevalence were calculated.

In total, 863,116 Arab and 3,674,863 Jewish people were included in the analysis. We found that 18.3% of the Arab population had a diagnosis of diabetes mellitus and 28.8% had obesity compared to 17.5% and 22.5% in the Jewish population, P < 0.001, respectively. The prevalence of chronic heart failure, chronic ischemic heart disease, cerebrovascular accidents, hypertension, and myocardial infarction among Arabs was higher in all age groups compared to Jewish patients. Arab males had higher frequency rates of obesity and hemodialysis treatment compared to Jewish males. The proportion of women with diabetes mellitus, hemodialysis treatment, iron deficiency anemia, or obesity was greater among Arab females.

Significant differences were found in the prevalence of chronic diseases among Arab and Jewish patients in Israel. Culturally relevant interventions are crucial for disease prevention, early diagnosis, and management of chronic diseases among different ethnic groups.