Objective: Several studies indicate that ethnicity may be a strong predictor of poor self-rated health (SRH). The aims of the present study were to investigate whether there was an association between ethnicity and poor SRH in subjects with type 2 diabetes and to determine if the association remained after adjusting for possible confounders such as age, gender employment, marital status, and education.
Design: A cross-sectional study based on a patient population in the town of Södertälje. An unconditional logistic regression was performed to estimate the odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CIs).
Setting: Four primary health care centers.
Subjects: A total of 354 individuals were included: Assyrian/Syrian-born (n = 173) and Swedish-born (n = 181).
Results: The odds ratio for rating poor SRH for Assyrian/Syrian subjects with type 2 diabetes was 4.5 times higher (95% CI = 2.7-7.5) than for Swedish patients in a crude model. After adjusting for possible confounders, unemployed/retired people had 5.4 times higher odds for reporting poor SRH than employees (OR = 5.4; 95% CI = 2.3-12.5). Women had 1.8 times higher odds (95% CI = 1.0-3.0) for reporting poor SRH than men. In the final model poor SRH among Assyrians/Syrians decreased but still remained significant (OR=3.7; 95% CI = 2.5-6.6).
Conclusions: The findings in this study are important for planning primary health care services. They highlight the crucial importance of being aware of the subjective health status of immigrants fleeing from war in the Middle East and resettling in Sweden.