Adult-onset diabetes in Middle Eastern immigrants to Sweden : Novel subgroups and diabetic complications-The All New Diabetes in Scania cohort diabetic complications and ethnicity

Background Middle Eastern immigrants to Europe represent a high risk population for type 2 diabetes. We compared prevalence of novel subgroups and assessed risk of diabetic macro- and microvascular complications between diabetes patients of Middle Eastern and European origin. Methods This study included newly diagnosed diabetes patients born in Sweden (N = 10641) or Iraq (N = 286), previously included in the All New Diabetes in Scania cohort. The study was conducted between January 2008 and August 2016. Patients were followed to April 2017. Incidence rates in diabetic macro- and microvascular complications were assessed using cox-regression adjusting for the confounding effect of age at onset, sex, anthropometrics, glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) and HbA1c. Findings In Iraqi immigrants versus native Swedes, severe insulin-deficient diabetes was almost twice as common (27.9 vs. 16.2% p