Objectives: We estimated the prevalence of self-reported diabetes in Hispanic subgroup (Puerto Rican, Mexican, Mexican American, Cuban, Dominican, Central and South American, and other Hispanic), non-Hispanic black, and non-Hispanic white populations aged 20 years and older.
Methods: Using the National Health Interview Survey 1997-2005, we limited these analyses to 272,041 records of adults aged 20 years and older, including 46,749 records for Hispanic respondents. We used logistic regression to assess the strength of the association between race/ethnicity and self-reported diabetes before and after adjusting for selected characteristics.
Results: Compared with non-Hispanic white respondents, Mexican American (odds ratio [OR] = 2.02; 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.75, 2.34), Mexican (OR=1.52; 95% CI 1.31, 1.91), Puerto Rican (OR=1.53; 95% CI 1.23, 1.91), other Hispanic (OR=2.08; 95% CI 1.68, 2.58), and non-Hispanic black (OR=1.47; 95% CI 1.35, 1.61) respondents had greater odds of reporting diabetes. When compared with non-Hispanic white respondents, Mexican American respondents with less than a high school diploma had the lowest odds of reporting diabetes, while those with at least a college degree had greater odds of reporting diabetes. However, Puerto Rican respondents with less than a high school education, Mexican respondents with at least some college education, and other Hispanic respondents with at least a high school diploma/general equivalency diploma had greater odds of reporting diabetes.
Conclusions: Although Hispanic respondents bear a greater burden of diabetes than non-Hispanic white respondents, this burden is unevenly distributed across subgroups. These findings call attention to data disaggregation whenever possible for U.S. racial/ethnic populations classified under categories considered homogeneous.