THE PREVALENCE OF SELF-REPORTED CHRONIC CONDITIONS AMONG ARAB, CHALDEAN, AND AFRICAN AMERICANS IN SOUTHEAST MICHIGAN

Objectives: While there is a plethora of research on the prevalence of individual chronic conditions, studies that examine the clustering of these conditions are lacking, especially among immigrant, minority groups. Design: Cross-sectional, convenience sample. Setting: A self-administered survey was distributed at churches, mosques, and small businesses. Participants: Arabs (n=1383), Chaldeans 0 868), Blacks (n=809) and Whites (n=220) in southeast Michigan. Main outcome measures: We estimated the prevalence of hypertension, high cholesterol, heart disease, diabetes, asthma, and depression. Using a logistic regression model, we estimated odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals for the association between ethnicity and reporting one or more chronic conditions before and after adjusting for demographic, socioeconomic status, health care, chronic conditions, and health behavior variables. Results: The overall age and sex-adjusted prevalence of having one or more chronic conditions was 44%. Estimates were lower for Chaldeans (32%) compared to Arabs (44%), Whites and Blacks (50% for each group). In the fully adjusted model, Chaldeans were less likely (OR=0.62; 95% CI=0.43-0.89) to report having one more chronic conditions compared to Whites. Conclusions: Future studies should employ probability samples, and should collect more detailed sociodemographic and acculturation data, which influence the relationship between race/ethnicity and the prevalence of chronic conditions. (Ethn Dis. 2009;19:293-300)