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Differences in Health Characteristics of Geographic Subgroups of Arab Americans in a Northern California Health Plan

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Abstract

Introduction

Arab Americans are a diverse ethnic group originating from a large geographic area in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). We aim to characterize differences in health between Arab Americans from different geographic subgroups within MENA.

Methods

We used cross-sectional electronic health record (EHR) data for a subset of 4913 Arab Americans aged 20–84 in a 2016 Northern California health plan study cohort who could be assigned to one of 4 geographic subgroups (Gulf, African, Levant, and Other) based on EHR ethnicity data. We calculated age-adjusted prevalence estimates for men and women and used generalized linear models to compare Gulf, African, and Other subgroups to Levant Arabs on risk factors (obesity and smoking), chronic conditions (diabetes, hypertension, hyperlipidemia, and asthma), and mental health (depression and anxiety).

Results

Among women, prevalence of smoking was lower among Gulf, African, and Other Arabs than Levant Arabs. Among men, prevalence of obesity, diabetes, and hyperlipidemia was lower among Gulf, African, and Other Arabs than Levant Arabs, while prevalence of depression was higher for these subgroups than Levant Arabs.

Discussion

We found substantial differences in health characteristics across Arab Americans from different geographic subgroups. Our results suggest that more detailed race and ethnicity information should be collected on Arab Americans to better understand their diverse health risks.

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Data Availability

The Kaiser Permanente Northern California (KPNC) Institutional Review Board has not provided approval for KPNC electronic health record data used for this study to be placed in a public access repository. Additional statistics derived from the data are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request. To request access to data used by this study, researchers should contact the corresponding author, who will then need to get approval for the request from the KPNC Division of Research Data Sharing Workgroup.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Boston College William F. Connell School of Nursing, 140 Commonwealth Avenue, Chestnut Hill, MA, 02467, USA

    Nadia N. Abuelezam

  2. College of Literature, Science, & the Arts & Department of Internal Medicine, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA

    Abdulrahman M. El-Sayed

  3. Boston University School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA

    Sandro Galea

  4. Kaiser Permanente Division of Research, Oakland, CA, USA

    Nancy P. Gordon

Authors
  1. Nadia N. Abuelezam
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  2. Abdulrahman M. El-Sayed
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  3. Sandro Galea
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  4. Nancy P. Gordon
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Nadia N. Abuelezam.

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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Ethics Approval

This study was approved by Kaiser Foundation Research Institute’s Institutional Review Board (IRB).

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Abuelezam, N.N., El-Sayed, A.M., Galea, S. et al. Differences in Health Characteristics of Geographic Subgroups of Arab Americans in a Northern California Health Plan. J. Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities 9, 399–405 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40615-021-00970-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40615-021-00970-4

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