Length of Residence in the United States is Associated With a Higher Prevalence of Cardiometabolic Risk Factors in Immigrants: A Contemporary Analysis of the National Health Interview Survey

Abstract

Background

Cardiometabolic risk ( CMR) factors including hypertension, overweight/obesity, diabetes mellitus, and hyperlipidemia are high among United States ethnic minorities, and the immigrant population continues to burgeon.

Methods and Results

Hypothesizing that acculturation (length of residence) would be associated with a higher prevalence of CMR factors, the authors analyzed data on 54, 984 US immigrants in the 2010–2014 National Health Interview Surveys. The main predictor was length of residence. The outcomes were hypertension, overweight/obesity, diabetes mellitus, and hyperlipidemia. The authors used multivariable logistic regression to examine the association between length of US residence and these CMR factors.

The mean ( SE) age of the patients was 43 (0.12) years and half were women. Participants residing in the United States for ≥10 years were more likely to have health insurance than those with <10 years of residence (70% versus 54%, P<0.001). After adjusting for region of birth, poverty income ratio, age, and sex, immigrants residing in the United States for ≥10 years were more likely to be overweight/obese (odds ratio [ OR], 1.19; 95% CI, 1.10–1.29), diabetic ( OR, 1.43; 95% CI, 1.17–1.73), and hypertensive ( OR, 1.18; 95% CI, 1.05–1.32) than those residing in the United States for <10 years.

Conclusions

In an ethnically diverse sample of US immigrants, acculturation was associated with CMR factors. Culturally tailored public health strategies should be developed in US immigrant populations to reduce CMR.