Lifecourse socioeconomic position and diabetes incidence in the REasons for Geographic and Racial Differences in Stroke (REGARDS) study, 2003 to 2016.

Low socioeconomic position (SEP) across the lifecourse is associated with Type 2 diabetes (T2DM). We examined whether these economic disparities differ by race and sex. We included 5448 African American (AA) and white participants aged ≥45 years from the national (United States) REasons for Geographic and Racial Differences in Stroke (REGARDS) cohort without T2DM at baseline (2003-07). Incident T2DM was defined by fasting glucose ≥126 mg/dL, random glucose ≥200 mg/dL, or using T2DM medications at follow-up (2013-16). Derived SEP scores in childhood (CSEP) and adulthood (ASEP) were used to calculate a cumulative (CumSEP) score. Social mobility was defined as change in SEP. We fitted race-stratified logistic regression models to estimate the association between each lifecourse SEP indicator and T2DM, adjusting for covariates; additionally, we tested SEP-sex interactions. Over a median of 9.0 (range 7-14) years of follow-up, T2DM incidence was 167.1 per 1000 persons among AA and 89.9 per 1000 persons among white participants. Low CSEP was associated with T2DM incidence among AA (OR = 1.61; 95%CI 1.05-2.46) but not white (1.06; 0.74-2.33) participants; this was attenuated after adjustment for ASEP. In contrast, low CumSEP was associated with T2DM incidence for both racial groups. T2DM risk was similar for stable low SEP and increased for downward mobility when compared with stable high SEP in both groups, whereas upward mobility increased T2DM risk among AAs only. No differences by sex were observed. Among AAs, low CSEP was not independently associated with T2DM, but CSEP may shape later-life experiences and health risks.

Life Course Socioeconomic Position, Allostatic Load, and Incidence of Type 2 Diabetes among African American Adults: The Jackson Heart Study, 2000-04 to 2012.

Objective: We examined whether life course socioeconomic position (SEP) was associated with incidence of type 2 diabetes (t2DM) among African Americans. Design: Secondary analysis of data from the Jackson Heart Study, 2000-04 to 2012, using Cox proportional hazard regression to estimate hazard ratios (HR) with 95% CI for t2DM incidence by measures of life course SEP. Participants: Sample of 4,012 nondiabetic adults aged 25-84 years at baseline. Outcome Measure: Incident t2DM identified by self-report, hemoglobin A1c ≥6.5%, fasting plasma glucose ≥126 mg/dL, or use of diabetes medication. Results: During 7.9 years of follow-up, 486 participants developed t2DM (incidence rate 15.2/1000 person-years, 95% CI: 13.9-16.6). Among women, but not men, childhood SEP was inversely associated with t2DM incidence (HR=.97, 95% CI: .94-.99) but was no longer associated with adjustment for adult SEP or t2DM risk factors. Upward SEP mobility increased the hazard for t2DM incidence (adjusted HR=1.52, 95% CI: 1.05-2.21) among women only. Life course allostatic load (AL) did not explain the SEP-t2DM association in either sex. Conclusions: Childhood SEP and upward social mobility may influence t2DM incidence in African American women but not in men.

County-Level Socioeconomic Disparities in Use of Medical Services for Management of Infections by Medicare Beneficiaries With Diabetes-United States, 2012.

OBJECTIVE: To assess county-level socioeconomic disparities in medical service usage for infections among Medicare beneficiaries with diabetes (MBWDs) who had fee-for-service health insurance claims during 2012. DESIGN: We used Medicare claims data to calculate percentage of MBWDs with infections. SETTING: Medicare beneficiaries. PARTICIPANTS: We estimated the percentage of MBWDs who used medical services for each of 3 groups of infections by sex and quintiles of the prevalence of social factors in the person's county of residence: anatomic site-specific infections; pathogen-specific infections; and HHST infections (human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immunodeficiency syndrome, viral hepatitis, sexually transmitted diseases, and tuberculosis). MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Using quintiles of county-specific socioeconomic determinants, we calculated absolute and relative disparities in each group of infections for male and female MBWDs. We also used regression-based summary measures to estimate the overall average absolute and relative disparities for each infection group. RESULTS: Of the 4.5 million male MBWDs, 15.8%, 25.3%, and 2.7% had 1 or more site-specific, pathogen-specific, and HHST infections, respectively. Results were similar for females (n = 5.2 million). The percentage of MBWDs with 1 or more infections in each group increased as social disadvantage in the MBWDs' county of residence increased. Absolute and relative county-level socioeconomic disparities in receipt of medical services for 1 or more infections (site- or pathogen-specific) were 12.9 or less percentage points and 65.5% or less, respectively. For HHST infections, percentage of MBWDs having 1 or more HHST infections for persons residing in the highest quintile (Q5) was 3- to 4-fold higher (P < .001) than persons residing in the lowest quintile (Q1). CONCLUSIONS: Infection burden among MBWDs is generally associated with county-level contextual socioeconomic disadvantage, and the extent of health disparities varies by infection category, socioeconomic factor, and quintiles of socioeconomic disadvantage. The findings imply ongoing need for efforts to identify effective interventions for reducing county-level social disparities in infections among patients with diabetes.

The contribution of family history to the burden of diagnosed diabetes, undiagnosed diabetes, and prediabetes in the United States: analysis of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, 2009-2014.

PURPOSE: Given the importance of family history in the early detection and prevention of type 2 diabetes, we quantified the public health impact of reported family health history on diagnosed diabetes (DD), undiagnosed diabetes (UD), and prediabetes (PD) in the United States. METHODS: We used population data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2009-2014 to measure the association of reported family history of diabetes with DD, UD, and PD. RESULTS: Using polytomous logistic regression and multivariable adjustment, family history prevalence ratios were 4.27 (confidence interval (CI): 3.57, 5.12) for DD, 2.03 (CI: 1.56, 2.63) for UD, and 1.26 (CI: 1.09, 1.44) for PD. In the United States, we estimate that 10.1 million DD cases, 1.4 million UD cases, and 3.9 million PD cases can be attributed to having a family history of diabetes. CONCLUSION: These findings confirm that family history of diabetes has a major public health impact on diabetes in the United States. In spite of the recent interest and focus on genomics and precision medicine, family health history continues to be an integral component of public health campaigns to identify persons at high risk for developing type 2 diabetes and early detection of diabetes to prevent or delay complications.

Disparities in the Prevalence of Diagnosed Diabetes - United States, 1999-2002 and 2011-2014.

The prevalence of diabetes mellitus has increased rapidly in the United States since the mid-1990s. By 2014, an estimated 29.1 million persons, or 9.3% of the total population, had received a diagnosis of diabetes (1). Recent evidence indicates that the prevalence of diagnosed diabetes among non-Hispanic black (black), Hispanic, and poorly educated adults continues to increase but has leveled off among non-Hispanic whites (whites) and persons with higher education (2). During 2004-2010, CDC reported marked racial/ethnic and socioeconomic position disparities in diabetes prevalence and increases in the magnitude of these disparities over time (3). However, the magnitude and extent of temporal change in socioeconomic position disparities in diagnosed diabetes among racial/ethnic populations are unknown. CDC used data from the National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) for the periods 1999-2002 and 2011-2014 to assess the magnitude of and change in socioeconomic position disparities in the age-standardized prevalence of diagnosed diabetes in the overall population and among blacks, whites, and Hispanics. During each period, significant socioeconomic position disparities existed in the overall population and among the assessed racial/ethnic populations. Disparities in prevalence increased with increasing socioeconomic disadvantage and widened over time among Hispanics and whites but not among blacks. The persistent widening of the socioeconomic position gap in prevalence suggests that interventions to reduce the risk for diabetes might have a different impact according to socioeconomic position.

Measurement of Health Disparities, Health Inequities, and Social Determinants of Health to Support the Advancement of Health Equity.

Reduction of health disparities and advancement of health equity in the United States require high-quality data indicative of where the nation stands vis-à-vis health equity, as well as proper analytic tools to facilitate accurate interpretation of these data. This article opens with an overview of health equity and social determinants of health. It then proposes a set of recommended practices in measurement of health disparities, health inequities, and social determinants of health at the national level to support the advancement of health equity, highlighting that (1) differences in health and its determinants that are associated with social position are important to assess; (2) social and structural determinants of health should be assessed and multiple levels of measurement should be considered; (3) the rationale for methodological choices made and measures chosen should be made explicit; (4) groups to be compared should be simultaneously classified by multiple social statuses; and (5) stakeholders and their communication needs can often be considered in the selection of analytic methods. Although much is understood about the role of social determinants of health in shaping the health of populations, researchers should continue to advance understanding of the pathways through which they operate on particular health outcomes. There is still much to learn and implement about how to measure health disparities, health inequities, and social determinants of health at the national level, and the challenges of health equity persist. We anticipate that the present discussion will contribute to the laying of a foundation for standard practice in the monitoring of national progress toward achievement of health equity.

Association of Socioeconomic Position With Sensory Impairment Among US Working-Aged Adults.

OBJECTIVES: We examined the relationship between socioeconomic position (SEP) and sensory impairment. METHODS: We used data from the 2007 to 2010 National Health Interview Surveys (n = 69 845 adults). Multivariable logistic regressions estimated odds ratios (ORs) for associations of educational attainment, occupational class, and poverty-income ratio with impaired vision or hearing. RESULTS: Nearly 20% of respondents reported sensory impairment. Each SEP indicator was negatively associated with sensory impairment. Adjusted odds of vision impairment were significantly higher for farm workers (OR = 1.41; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.01, 2.02), people with some college (OR = 1.29; 95% CI = 1.16, 1.44) or less than a high school diploma (OR = 1.36; 95% CI = 1.19, 1.55), and people from poor (OR = 1.35; 95% CI = 1.20, 1.52), low-income (OR = 1.28; 95% CI = 1.14, 1.43), or middle-income (OR = 1.19; 95% CI = 1.07, 1.31) families than for the highest-SEP group. Odds of hearing impairment were significantly higher for people with some college or less education than for those with a college degree or more; for service groups, farmers, and blue-collar workers than for white-collar workers; and for people in poor families. CONCLUSIONS: More research is needed to understand the SEP-sensory impairment association.

The relationship between county-level contextual characteristics and use of diabetes care services.

OBJECTIVES: To examine the relationship between county-level measures of social determinants and use of preventive care among US adults with diagnosed diabetes. To inform future diabetes prevention strategies. METHODS: Data are from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) 2004 and 2005 surveys, the National Diabetes Surveillance System, and the Area Resource File. Use of diabetes care services was defined by self-reported receipt of 7 preventive care services. Our study sample included 46 806 respondents with self-reported diagnosed diabetes. Multilevel models were run to assess the association between county-level characteristics and receipt of each of the 7 preventive diabetes care service after controlling for characteristics of individuals. Results were considered significant if P < .05. RESULTS: Controlling for individual-level characteristics, our analyses showed that 7 of the 8 county-level factors examined were significantly associated with use of 1 or more preventive diabetes care services. For example, people with diabetes living in a county with a high uninsurance rate were less likely to have an influenza vaccination, visit a doctor for diabetes care, have an A1c test, or a foot examination; people with diabetes living in a county with a high physician density were more likely to have an A1c test, foot examination, or an eye examination; and people with diabetes living in a county with more people with less than high-school education were less likely to have influenza vaccination, pneumococcal vaccination, or self-care education (all P < .05). CONCLUSIONS: Many of the county-level factors examined in this study were found to be significantly associated with use of preventive diabetes care services. County policy makers may need to consider local circumstances to address the disparities in use of these services.

Small area variation in diabetes prevalence in Puerto Rico.

OBJECTIVE: To estimate the 2009 prevalence of diagnosed diabetes in Puerto Rico among adults ≥ 20 years of age in order to gain a better understanding of its geographic distribution so that policymakers can more efficiently target prevention and control programs. METHODS: A Bayesian multilevel model was fitted to the combined 2008-2010 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System and 2009 United States Census data to estimate diabetes prevalence for each of the 78 municipios (counties) in Puerto Rico. RESULTS: The mean unadjusted estimate for all counties was 14.3% (range by county, 9.9%-18.0%). The average width of the confidence intervals was 6.2%. Adjusted and unadjusted estimates differed little. CONCLUSIONS: These 78 county estimates are higher on average and showed less variability (i.e., had a smaller range) than the previously published estimates of the 2008 diabetes prevalence for all United States counties (mean, 9.9%; range, 3.0%-18.2%).

Aging, diabetes, and the public health system in the United States.

Diabetes (diagnosed or undiagnosed) affects 10.9 million US adults aged 65 years and older. Almost 8 in 10 have some form of dysglycemia, according to tests for fasting glucose or hemoglobin A1c. Among this age group, diagnosed diabetes is projected to reach 26.7 million by 2050, or 55% of all diabetes cases. In 2007, older adults accounted for $64.8 billion (56%) of direct diabetes medical costs, $41.1 billion for institutional care alone. Complications, comorbid conditions, and geriatric syndromes affect diabetes care, and medical guidelines for treating older adults with diabetes are limited. Broad public health programs help, but effective, targeted interventions and expanded surveillance and research and better policies are needed to address the rapidly growing diabetes burden among older adults.

Evaluation of risk equations for prediction of short-term coronary heart disease events in patients with long-standing type 2 diabetes: the Translating Research into Action for Diabetes (TRIAD) study.

BACKGROUND: To evaluate the U.K. Prospective Diabetes Study (UKPDS) and Framingham risk equations for predicting short-term risk of coronary heart disease (CHD) events among adults with long-standing type 2 diabetes, including those with and without preexisting CHD. METHODS: Prospective cohort of U.S. managed care enrollees aged ≥ 18 years and mean diabetes duration of more than 10 years, participating in the Translating Research into Action for Diabetes (TRIAD) study, was followed for the first occurrence of CHD events from 2000 to 2003. The UKPDS and Framingham risk equations were evaluated for discriminating power and calibration. RESULTS: A total of 8303 TRIAD participants, were identified to evaluate the UKPDS (n = 5914, 120 events), Framingham-initial (n = 5914, 218 events) and Framingham-secondary (n = 2389, 374 events) risk equations, according to their prior CHD history. All of these equations exhibited low discriminating power with Harrell's c-index <0.65. All except the Framingham-initial equation for women and the Framingham-secondary equation for men had low levels of calibration. After adjsusting for the average values of predictors and event rates in the TRIAD population, the calibration of these equations greatly improved. CONCLUSIONS: The UKPDS and Framingham risk equations may be inappropriate for predicting the short-term risk of CHD events in patients with long-standing type 2 diabetes, partly due to changes in medications used by patients with diabetes and other improvements in clinical care since the Frmaingham and UKPDS studies were conducted. Refinement of these equations to reflect contemporary CHD profiles, diagnostics and therapies are needed to provide reliable risk estimates to inform effective treatment.

Trends and socioeconomic disparities in all-cause mortality among adults with diagnosed diabetes by race/ethnicity: a population-based cohort study - USA, 1997-2015.

OBJECTIVES: By race/ethnicity and socioeconomic position (SEP), to estimate and examine changes over time in (1) mortality rate, (2) mortality disparities and (3) excess mortality risk attributed to diagnosed diabetes (DM). DESIGN: Population-based cohort study using National Health Interview Survey data linked to mortality status from the National Death Index from survey year up to 31 December 2015 with 5 years person-time. PARTICIPANTS: US adults aged ≥25 years with (31 586) and without (332 451) DM. PRIMARY OUTCOME: Age-adjusted all-cause mortality rate for US adults with DM in each subgroup of SEP (education attainment and income-to-poverty ratio (IPR)) and time (1997-2001, 2002-2006 and 2007-2011). RESULTS: Among adults with DM, mortality rates fell from 23.5/1000 person-years (p-y) in 1997-2001 to 18.1/1000 p-y in 2007-2011 with changes of -5.2/1000 p-y for non-Hispanic whites; -5.2/1000 p-y for non-Hispanic blacks; and -5.4/1000 p-y for Hispanics. Rates significantly declined within SEP groups, measured as education attainment (high school=-4.8/1000 p-y) and IPR group (poor=-7.9/1000 p-y; middle income=-4.7/1000 p-y; and high income=-6.2/1000 p-y; but not for near poor). For adults with DM, statistically significant all-cause mortality disparity showed greater mortality rates for the lowest than the highest SEP level (education attainment and IPR) in each time period. However, patterns in mortality trends and disparity varied by race/ethnicity. The excess mortality risk attributed to DM significantly decreased from 1997-2001 to 2007-2011, within SEP levels, and among Hispanics and non-Hispanic whites; but no statistically significant changes among non-Hispanic blacks. CONCLUSIONS: There were substantial improvements in all-cause mortality among US adults. However, we observed SEP disparities in mortality across race/ethnic groups or for adults with and without DM despite targeted efforts to improve access and quality of care among disproportionately affected populations.

A historical overview of the United States-Mexico Border Diabetes Prevention and Control Project.

Diabetes is a serious public health problem in the border region between the United States of America and Mexico, reflecting and by some measures surpassing the extent of national diabetes burden of each country. The U.S.-Mexico Border Diabetes Prevention and Control Project, a two-phase prevalence study on type 2 diabetes and its risk factors, was conceived and developed by culturally diverse groups of people representing more than 100 government agencies and nongovernmental organizations; health care providers; and residents of 10 U.S. and Mexican border states, using a participatory approach, to address this disproportionate incidence of diabetes. This report describes the project's history, conceptualization, participatory approach, implementation, accomplishments, and challenges, and recommends a series of steps for carrying out other binational participatory projects based on lessons learned.

Access to health care and undiagnosed diabetes along the United States-Mexico border.

OBJECTIVE: To examine the relationship between access to health care and undiagnosed diabetes among the high-risk, vulnerable population in the border region between the United States of America and Mexico. METHODS: Using survey and fasting plasma glucose data from Phase I of the U.S.-Mexico Border Diabetes Prevention and Control Project (February 2001 to October 2002), this epidemiological study identified 178 adults 18-64 years old with undiagnosed diabetes, 326 with diagnosed diabetes, and 2 966 without diabetes. Access to health care among that sample (n = 3,470), was assessed by type of health insurance coverage (including "none"), number of health care visits over the past year, routine pattern of health care utilization, and country of residence. RESULTS: People with diabetes who had no insurance and no place to go for routine health care were more likely to be undiagnosed than those with insurance and a place for routine health care (odds ratio [OR] 2.6, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.0-6.6, and OR 4.5, 95% CI 1.4-14.1, respectively). When stratified by country, the survey data showed that on the U.S. side of the border there were more people with undiagnosed diabetes if they were 1) uninsured versus the insured (28.9%, 95% CI 11.5%-46.3%, versus 9.1%, 95% CI 1.5%-16.7%, respectively) and if they 2) had made no visits or 1-3 visits to a health care facility in the past year versus had made ≥ 4 visits (40.8%, 95% CI 19.6%-62.0%, and 23.4%, 95% CI 9.9%-36.9%, respectively, versus 2.4%, 95% CI -0.9%-5.7%) (all, P < 0.05). No similar pattern was found in Mexico. CONCLUSIONS: Limited access to health care--especially not having health insurance and/or not having a place to receive routine health services--was significantly associated with undiagnosed diabetes in the U.S.-Mexico border region.

Does frank diabetes in first-degree relatives of a pregnant woman affect the likelihood of her developing gestational diabetes mellitus or nongestational diabetes?

OBJECTIVE: We sought to examine the associations between patterns of family histories of diabetes and a history of gestational diabetes mellitus (hGDM). STUDY DESIGN: Parous women participating in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey III (n=4566) were classified as having hGDM only, diagnosed diabetes, or neither. Family history of diabetes was categorized as: maternal only, paternal only, biparental, and sibling only. The covariate-adjusted prevalence and odds of having hGDM were estimated. RESULTS: Compared to women without a family history of diabetes, women with a maternal (odds ratio [OR], 3.0; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.2-7.3), paternal (OR, 3.3; 95% CI, 1.1-10.2), or sibling (OR, 7.1; 95% CI, 1.6-30.9) history of diabetes had greater odds of hGDM, after adjustment for age and race/ethnicity. CONCLUSION: Women with a sibling history of diabetes were more likely to have hGDM than women with other family history patterns.

Investing time in health: do socioeconomically disadvantaged patients spend more or less extra time on diabetes self-care?

BACKGROUND: Research on self-care for chronic disease has not examined time requirements. Translating Research into Action for Diabetes (TRIAD), a multi-site study of managed care patients with diabetes, is among the first to assess self-care time. OBJECTIVE: To examine associations between socioeconomic position and extra time patients spend on foot care, shopping/cooking, and exercise due to diabetes. DATA: Eleven thousand nine hundred and twenty-seven patient surveys from 2000 to 2001. METHODS: Bayesian two-part models were used to estimate associations of self-reported extra time spent on self-care with race/ethnicity, education, and income, controlling for demographic and clinical characteristics. RESULTS: Proportions of patients spending no extra time on foot care, shopping/cooking, and exercise were, respectively, 37, 52, and 31%. Extra time spent on foot care and shopping/cooking was greater among racial/ethnic minorities, less-educated and lower-income patients. For example, African-Americans were about 10 percentage points more likely to report spending extra time on foot care than whites and extra time spent was about 3 min more per day. DISCUSSION: Extra time spent on self-care was greater for socioeconomically disadvantaged patients than for advantaged patients, perhaps because their perceived opportunity cost of time is lower or they cannot afford substitutes. Our findings suggest that poorly controlled diabetes risk factors among disadvantaged populations may not be attributable to self-care practices.

Trend analysis of diagnosed diabetes prevalence among American Indian/Alaska native young adults--United States, 1994-2007.

OBJECTIVE: In this study, we build on the previous findings of increased diabetes prevalence among American Indian/Alaska Native (AI/AN) young adults, by studying the rate at which annual prevalence estimates of diagnosed diabetes increased from 1994 to 2007. DESIGN AND SETTING: For this study, BRFSS data for 1994-2007 from the 50 states, District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Virgin Islands were analyzed. PARTICIPANTS: Only non-institutionalized adults aged 18 years and older were eligible to participate in the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System survey. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: To examine the existence and strength of a trend, we analyzed plots and Spearman's rank correlation coefficients of annual prevalence estimates for each group of young adults. Mantel-Haenszel tests were employed to study the relationship of diagnosed diabetes prevalence and race (AI/ AN, non-Hispanic White), while controlling for the time periods 1994-2000 and 2001-2007. To quantify increases in the disparity of diagnosed diabetes prevalence and race (AI/ AN, non-Hispanic White), odds risk ratio estimates were employed to approximate corresponding prevalence ratio estimates for the time periods 1994-2000 and 2001-2007. RESULTS: Employing Spearman's test for trend resulted in observing, during 1994-2007, statistically significant increasing trends in the annual prevalence estimates of diagnosed diabetes among AI/AN and non-Hispanic White young adults. AI/AN young adults, on average, were 1.7 (95% CI; [1.12, 2.63]) times more likely than non-Hispanic White young adults to be diagnosed with diabetes during 1994-2000 and 2.5 (95% CI; [1.93, 3.32]) times more likely during 2001-2007. CONCLUSION: The findings in this study suggests that the disparity in the estimated prevalence of diagnosed diabetes between AI/AN and NHW young adults widened steadily from 2001 to 2007.

Diabetic retinopathy, dilated eye examination, and eye care education among African Americans, 1997 and 2004.

OBJECTIVE: To examine diabetic retinopathy, dilated eye examination, and eye care education among African Americans before and after a community-level public health intervention. METHODS: We analyzed data from Project DIRECT (Diabetes Interventions Reaching and Educating Communities Together) participants with self-reported diabetes (617 in 1996-1997 and 672 in 2003-2004) in Raleigh (intervention community) and Greensboro (comparison community), North Carolina. All analyses were weighted to adjust for the complex sample design of pre and post cross-sectional surveys. Estimates were age standardized to the 2000 US Census population. We used multivariate logistic regression to calculate odds ratios and corresponding 95% confidence intervals. RESULTS: We found no significant difference in prevalence of diabetic retinopathy between the control and intervention communities (p > .05). However, after adjusting for other confounders, receipt of eye care education (OR, 1.59; 95% CI, 1.19-2.13) was independently associated with receipt of dilated eye examination among African Americans with diabetes. Compared with individuals without diabetic retinopathy, those with diabetic retinopathy were more likely to use eye care services (OR, 1.89; 95% CI, 1.41-2.54). CONCLUSIONS: Diabetic retinopathy is a considerable problem among African American communities. Community intervention efforts, such as comprehensive eye care education, that specifically target improvement in diabetic retinopathy and use of eye are services could help better serve this population.

Correlates of bone mineral density among postmenopausal women of African Caribbean ancestry: Tobago women's health study.

Population dynamics predict a drastic growth in the number of older minority women, and resultant increases in the number of fractures. Low bone mineral density (BMD) is an important risk factor for fracture. Many studies have identified the lifestyle and health-related factors that correlate with BMD in Whites. Few studies have focused on non-Whites. The objective of the current analyses is to examine the lifestyle, anthropometric and health-related factors that are correlated with BMD in a population based cohort of Caribbean women of West African ancestry. We enrolled 340 postmenopausal women residing on the Caribbean Island of Tobago. Participants completed a questionnaire and had anthropometric measures taken. Hip BMD was measured by DXA. We estimated volumetric BMD by calculating bone mineral apparent density (BMAD). BMD was >10% and >25% higher across all age groups in Tobagonian women compared to US non-Hispanic Black and White women, respectively. In multiple linear regression models, 35-36% of the variability in femoral neck and total hip BMD respectively was predicted. Each 16-kg (one standard deviation (SD)) increase in weight was associated with 5% higher BMD; and weight explained over 10% of the variability of BMD. Each 8-year (1 SD) increase in age was associated with 5% lower BMD. Current use of both thiazide diuretics and oral hypoglycemic medication were associated with 4-5% higher BMD. For femoral neck BMAD, 26% of the variability was explained by a multiple linear regression model. Current statin use was associated with 5% higher BMAD and a history of breast feeding or coronary heart disease was associated with 1-1.5% of higher BMAD. In conclusion, African Caribbean women have the highest BMD on a population level reported to date for women. This may reflect low European admixture. Correlates of BMD among Caribbean women of West African ancestry were similar to those reported for U.S. Black and White women.