Walther, Glenna and Brand, Tilman and Dragano, Nico and Meinke-Franze, Claudia and Fuhrer, Amand and Greiser, Karin Halina and Hovardovska, Olga and Kiekert, Jamin and Krist, Lilian and Leitzmann, Michael and Lieb, Wolfgang and Mikolajczyk, Rafael and Mons, Ute and Niedermayer, Fiona and Obi, Nadia and Overmohle, Cara and Reuter, Marvin and Schmidt, Borge and Velasquez, Ilais Moreno and Volzke, Henry and Wirkner, Kerstin and Zeeb, Hajo and Barnighausen, Till and Fischer, Beate and Koch-Gallenkamp, Lena and Harth, Volker and Karch, Andre and Lange, Berit and Peters, Annette and Pischon, Tobias and Teismann, Henning and Becher, Heiko and Winkler, Volker (2025) Migration and cardiovascular disease: A comparative study of prevalence and risk factor profiles in resettlers from the German National Cohort (NAKO). ANNALS OF EPIDEMIOLOGY, 111. pp. 14-23. ISSN 1047-2797, 1873-2585
Full text not available from this repository. (Request a copy)Abstract
Aims: Resettlers from the former Soviet Union are one of the largest migrant groups in Germany. Previous studies found lower cardiovascular disease (CVD) mortality among resettlers compared to Germans without migration background (autochthonous). Other studies have shown a higher prevalence of CVD risk factors among resettlers, suggesting a higher CVD mortality. The German National Cohort (NAKO) provides an opportunity to explore these discrepancies. Methods: This study used baseline data from NAKO and compared age-adjusted percentages of self-reported CVD and associated risk factors between the two groups. Logistic regression models estimated adjusted odds ratios (OR) for associations between resettler status and outcomes. Results: Among 204,751 participants aged 19-75, 3580 were resettlers and 169,538 autochthonous Germans. Male resettlers had lower odds of risky alcohol consumption (OR: 0.55; 95 %CI: 0.49-0.63) but higher odds of ever smoking (OR: 1.26; 95 %CI: 1.13-1.41) compared to autochthonous German men. Female resettlers showed higher prevalence of hypertension, diabetes mellitus, obesity, and elevated cholesterol/triglycerides, but lower prevalence of risky alcohol consumption and smoking. In men, the odds of peripheral artery disease (PAD) (OR: 0.46; 95 %CI: 0.21-0.97) and any CVD (OR: 0.81; 95 % CI: 0.66-0.98) were lower among resettlers. No other notable differences in clinical CVDs were observed in men. Conclusion: Resettlers showed differences regarding CVD risk factor distribution compared to autochthonous Germans. These differences appear to balance out, leading to similar overall CVD prevalence, except for a lower prevalence of PAD and total CVD in male resettlers. Future longitudinal data will allow to explore long-term CVD trajectories. Lay summary: We compared the prevalence of cardiovascular diseases (CVD) in a special group of migrants (resettlers from the former Soviet Union; German: (Spa<spacing diaeresis>t-)Aussiedler) and autochthonous Germans, using data from the German National Cohort (NAKO) and investigated risk factors frequencies for these diseases in both groups. We found that male resettlers had less of risky alcohol consumption but smoked more than autoch-thonous German men. Female resettlers showed higher prevalence of hypertension, diabetes mellitus, obesity, and elevated cholesterol and triglyceride levels, but lower prevalence of risky alcohol consumption and smoking. The prevalence of most CVDs was similar in both groups, except of peripheral artery disease and all CVDs combined which we found less frequent in male resettlers.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | ; Resettlers; Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs); Cardiovascular risk factors; Migrant health; German National Cohort (NAKO) |
| Subjects: | 600 Technology > 610 Medical sciences Medicine |
| Divisions: | Medicine > Institut für Epidemiologie und Präventivmedizin |
| Depositing User: | Dr. Gernot Deinzer |
| Date Deposited: | 26 Mar 2026 12:51 |
| Last Modified: | 26 Mar 2026 12:51 |
| URI: | https://pred.uni-regensburg.de/id/eprint/67970 |
Actions (login required)
 |
View Item |
