Introduction: Prediabetes presents a unique opportunity to identify risk factors that can delay or prevent the development of diabetes. Latinos experience a high prevalence of prediabetes and identifying the combined risk of multiple, interconnected sources of social disadvantage can lead to more effective prevention strategies.
Objective: Examine the joint effect/ intersection of language spoken and educational attainment on prediabetes prevalence in US Latinos.
Methods: We combined data from the 2011-2018 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey restricting the sample to those 18+ years of age, Latino ethnicity, and no diabetes diagnosis (n=4,294). We created a four-level variable measuring the language spoken at home (English only/mostly vs Spanish only/mostly) and educational attainment (<high school="" vs.="" high="" school+),="" with="" english="" only="" and="" education="" as="" the="" referent.="" prediabetes="" was="" based="" on="" laboratory="" confirmed="" a1c="" levels="" of="" 5.7-6.4.="" we="" generated="" weighted="" odds="" ratios="" (or)="" 95%="" confidence="" intervals="" (ci)="" adjusting="" for="" age,="" sex,="" poverty="" income="" ratio="" body="" mass="" index.="" all="" models="" accounted="" complex="" sampling="" design="" significance="" set="" to="" (p <.05) using SAS v9.4.
Results: The prevalence of prediabetes among Latinos was 24.4%. The odds of prediabetes among Spanish only and low education was 1.8 (95% CI: 1.5,2.2) compared to the referent group in fully adjusted models. All other combinations of exposure had significant odds ratios of 1.33-1.38.
Conclusion: This study highlights the added disadvantage of limited English proficiency and education on prediabetes prevalence and suggests the need for more complex interventions addressing multiple sources of disadvantage in Latino adults.
E. Camacho: None. S. Echeverria: None.
