ORIGINAL RESEARCH
Roopradha Datta, MPH; Jennifer A. Lucas, PhD; Miguel Marino, PhD; Danielle M. Crookes, DrPH; Benjamin Aceves, PhD; David Ezekiel-Herrera, MS; Andrew Bazemore, MD, MPH; John D. Heintzman, MD, MPH
Corresponding Author: Roopradha Datta, MPH; Department of Family Medicine, Oregon Health & Science University
Email: dattaro@ohsu.edu
DOI: 10.3122/jabfm.2024.240107R1
Keywords: Community Health Centers, Electronic Health Records, Hb A1c, Hispanic or Latino, Minority Health, Type 2 Diabetes
Dates: Submitted: 03-05-2024; Revised: 05-30-2024; Accepted: 06-03-2024
FINAL PUBLICATION: |HTML| |PDF|
INTRODUCTION: The Latino population is the largest ethnic group in the United States and has a higher prevalence of diabetes mellitus than non-Latino Whites. The objective of this paper is to assess if glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) monitoring rates vary across Latino patients by subgroup and nativity compared to their non-Latino White counterparts.
METHOD: Our sample included 43,593 adults (18-79 years) with Type-2 diabetes extracted from electronic health record (EHR) data from Community Health Centers (CHCs) across 16 US states, linked with neighborhood-level Latino subgroup data within the study period 2012-2020. The outcome was number of HbA1c monitoring tests per year. The main independent variable was self-reported ethnicity/nativity (e.g., Mexican-born, US-born Latino, etc.) or for those with no EHR-recorded country of birth.
RESULTS: Compared to non-Latino White people with diabetes, US-born Latinos with diabetes had an 11% higher rate of receiving HbA1c monitoring; no foreign-born Latinos had monitoring rates that differed significantly from non-Latino Whites. Latinos with no country of birth recorded and living in high percent Mexican neighborhood had 22% higher rates of receiving HbA1c monitoring. Those living in high percent Dominican, Guatemalan and Honduran neighborhoods also had greater rates of HbA1c monitoring compared to non-Latino White patients.
CONCLUSIONS: It could be beneficial for clinics to inquire about nativity and subgroup information of their Latino patients, so as to customize the treatment plan and better understand utilization patterns common in their communities.