aanhpiDC
 Joslin AADI
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
6/12/2014
Contact: George L. King, M.D.
 617.719.8437 (mobile)
617-309-2622 (office)
George.King@joslin.harvard.edu 
and
David Hawks
202-441-1192 (mobile)

 Diabetes Researchers Say New CDC Data Does Not Show True Impact of Diabetes Among AANHPI

Asian American Diabetes Rates Low, Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders Absent 

 

This Tuesday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released the 2014 National Diabetes Statistics Report (formerly referred to as the National Diabetes Fact Sheet), intended to provide up-to-date scientific data and statistics on diabetes and its burden in the United StatesThe data released from the CDC underscored the growing epidemic of diabetes in the U.S. and how this disproportionately affects non-White segments of the population. 

 

What it fails to show is the true impact of diabetes within the various ethnicities included as Asian Americans. Dr. George King, co-chair of the Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander Diabetes Coalition (AANHPIDC) and a board member of the American Diabetes Association said: "We're pleased that the CDC has, for the first time, gathered more granular data on diabetes in Asian Americans, and we look forward to working with CDC to accurately interpret the results in order to prevent diabetes and improve its care in the AANHPI populations."

 

The key points raised by Dr. King and members of AANHPIDC are: 

 

1.      Asian Americans include a large number of different ethnicities, many of whom are fairly recent arrivals in the U.S.  The CDC sample was not large enough to disaggregate Asian Americans into all of these ethnicities, nor was it representative of Asian Americans due to inclusion of more foreign-born versus U.S.-born than was found in the last U.S. Census. It did break down "Asian American" into several ethnicities: Chinese, Filipino, South Asian Indian, and "other". While the report probably underestimates the rates of diabetes in Filipinos and South Asians, the rates are still high and point to a disparity that deserves more concern. Notably absent were data for Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders.

 

2.     The prevalence of diabetes among Asian Americans reported by the CDC is lower than expected from several population-based studies of Asian Americans.  This may be attributable to the diagnostic criteria used to identify diabetes.  Diagnosis of diabetes is based upon meeting any one of the following criteria: HbA1c ≥6.5%, fasting plasma glucose ≥125 mg/dl, or 2-hr plasma glucose following 75-g oral glucose ≥200 mg/dl.  Using the first two of these and ignoring the third results in missing the majority of Asian Americans with diabetes, perhaps as many as half to two-thirds. The CDC did not measure 2-hr plasma glucose in most of the Asian Americans included in their survey. 

 

3.     Suspicion by health care providers about the possible presence of diabetes in their patients is raised if the patient is overweight or obese.  The most commonly used measurement to assess this is the body mass index or BMI.  The at-risk BMI for Asian Americans is lower than in the general population, resulting in at-risk Asian Americans being overlooked for screening for diabetes.

 

4.     Data showing greater prevalence of diabetes in Asian Americans and the lower at-risk for diabetes BMI in Asian Americans will be presented in several sessions at the 74th American Diabetes Association Scientific Sessions in San Francisco  These are:

a.     "High Diabetes Incidence among Asian Americans Despite Moderate Obesity Levels" by Gertraud Maskarinec, MD, PhD, on Friday, June 13 at 4:15-6:15 pm

b.     "Optimum BMI Cut Points to Screen Asian Americans for Type 2 Diabetes-The UCSD Filipino Health Study and the North Kohala Study" by Maria Rosario Araneta, PhD, et al on Saturday, June 14 at 8:00 am

c.     "Identifying Japanese Americans at Risk for Prevalent or Incident Type 2 Diabetes by BMI, Waist, or Intra-abdominal Fat" by Yukiko Onishi, MD, et al as a late-breaking poster (156-LB) on Sunday, June 15 at 12:00-2:00 pm

d.     "Optimum BMI Cut-Points to Screen Asian Americans for Type 2 Diabetes" by Maria Rosaria Araneta, PhD, et al as a late-breaking poster (161-LB) on Sunday, June 15 at 12:00-2:00 pm

 

 

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The Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander Diabetes Coalition (AANHPI - DC) is a national coalition dedicated to diabetes research and prevention, treatment, and education, particularly in AANHPI populations.