Diabetes and impaired glucose tolerance among Turkish immigrants in Sweden.

AIM: To investigate whether the prevalence of diabetes and impaired glucose tolerance (IGT) was higher among Turkish immigrants in Sweden, than in their area of origin in Turkey. METHODS: 238 Turkish immigrants aged 20 years and older living in Flemingsberg, Sweden, were compared with 1549 participants of the same age living in the Konya area of Turkey. Data collection included anthropometric measurements, blood pressure (BP) measurements, and an oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT). RESULTS: Prevalence of laboratory-verified diabetes was 11.8% among participants in Sweden compared to 7.1% among participants in Turkey (p 0.018). Turkish women in Sweden had a higher prevalence of diabetes than Turkish women in Turkey, 12.8% vs. 7.6% (p=0.037). Similarly, IGT was 17.8% among Turkish men in Sweden compared to 4.9% among men in Turkey (p<0.001) and 2-h blood glucose was higher among the immigrants (p<0.001). Systolic BP was also higher among the immigrants, especially in men (p<0.001) who also had a higher BMI (p=0.003). CONCLUSIONS: The higher prevalence of diabetes and IGT among Turkish immigrants in Flemingsberg, Sweden, suggests that migration is associated with diabetes and that there are important implications for public health in Sweden.

Diabetes mellitus in Turkish immigrants in Sweden.

This study analyses the risk of self-reported diabetes mellitus among Turkish-born immigrants in Sweden. Two simple random samples were used: The Swedish National Board of Health and Welfare Immigrant Survey, and the Swedish Survey of Living Conditions, both from 1996. Totally 526 Turkish immigrants, 285 men and 241 women, were compared with 2854 Swedish controls, 1425 men and 1429 women, all in ages 27-60 years. Data were analysed by sex in an age-adjusted model, and a full model also included education, employment status, BMI and country of birth (logistic regression). Among Turkish men, age-adjusted diabetes prevalence was not higher than among Swedish men, odds ratio (OR) 1.04 (95% confidence interval (CI) 0.35-3.11). Among Turkish women, age-adjusted diabetes prevalence was higher than among Swedish women, OR 3.22 (95% CI 1.36-7.64), but when also adjusting for educational level, employment status and BMI, OR was 1.22 (95% CI 0.41-3.66). We conclude, that age-adjusted presence of known diabetes was higher among Turkish-born women than among Swedish women, but was explained by lower employment rate, lower educational status and a higher level of overweight and obesity.