Diabetes and Diabetes Care among Nonobese Japanese-Americans: Findings from a Population-Based Study

Karen Kobayashi; Keith Tsz-Kit Chan; Adity Roy; Mushira Mohsin Khan; Esme Fuller-Thomson

doi:10.1155/2019/3650649

Diabetes and Diabetes Care among Nonobese Japanese-Americans: Findings from a Population-Based Study

Adv Prev Med. 2019 Jun 2:2019:3650649. doi: 10.1155/2019/3650649. eCollection 2019.

Authors

Karen Kobayashi¹, Keith Tsz-Kit Chan², Adity Roy³, Mushira Mohsin Khan¹, Esme Fuller-Thomson⁴

Affiliations

¹ Department of Sociology and Institute on Aging and Lifelong Health, University of Victoria, Victoria, BC V8W 3P5, Canada.
² School of Social Welfare, University at Albany SUNY, Richardson, Rm 277, USA.
³ Institute for Life Course & Aging, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada.
⁴ Institute for Life Course & Aging, Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work, Cross-Appointed to the Faculty of Medicine University of Toronto, 246 Bloor St. W., Toronto, ON, Canada.

Abstract

Objectives: The objectives of this study are as follows: (1) to determine the prevalence of diabetes among nonobese Japanese-Americans and to determine the adjusted odds of diabetes among nonobese Japanese-Americans compared to non-Hispanic Whites (NHWs); (2) to identify the risk factors associated with having diabetes in a large sample of nonobese Japanese-Americans; and (3) to determine the prevalence and adjusted odds of diabetes management behaviors among nonobese Japanese-Americans with diabetes in comparison to NHWs with diabetes.

Methods: The combined 2007-2016 waves of the adult California Health Interview Survey (CHIS) were used to analyze a nonobese (BMI<30) sample of 2,295 Japanese-Americans and 119,651 NHWs. Chi-square and logistic regression analyses were performed using Stata.

Results: The findings of this representative community study of nonobese Californians indicate that the prevalence of diabetes among Japanese-American respondents was higher than their NHW counterparts (8.0% versus 4.5%). Prevalence increased markedly with age; one-quarter of nonobese Japanese Americans aged 80 and older had diabetes.

Conclusions: The prevalence of diabetes among nonobese Japanese-Americans is significantly higher than that among NHWs. There is an urgent need to develop appropriate intervention and prevention approaches with lifestyle modification specifically targeted towards nonobese Japanese-Americans.