Ethnic Differences in Metabolic Biomarkers between Filipino Immigrant Women and Korean Residents in Korea: Analysis of the First Survey of the Filipino Women's Diet and Health study (FiLWHEL study)

Abstract

Background: Due to the globalization of Korea, the number of immigrants to Korea is increasing. Studying immigrants is important not only because immigrants are becoming an integral part of the Korean population, but also to provide an opportunity to estimate the contribution of ethnicity in the development of diabetes mellitus. Objectives: We aimed to compare lifestyle and biochemical markers related to glucose metabolism among immigrated Filipino women and native Korean women, and to investigate the cause of the differences in the two groups. Methods: Baseline data of 461 participants from the Filipino women’s diet and health (FiLWHEL) study were matched with data from participants of the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES) by age and body mass index (BMI). The homeostatic model assessment (HOMA) for insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) and β-cell function (HOMA-β) values were calculated and compared between the two groups. Results: Native Korean women had a higher fasting plasma glucose than immigrated Filipino women after adjusting for age and BMI. Also, HOMA-β was lower in native Korean women than immigrated Filipino women. However, HOMA-IR was not significantly different between native Korean women and immigrated Filipino women. In conditional logistic regression analysis, the odds ratio of the impaired fasting glucose (IFG) group (fasting plasma glucose over 100mg/dL) was 2.68 for Korean women compared with Filipino women (95% CI = 1.60-4.48) after adjusting for age, BMI, smoking, alcohol, education, and marital status. For insulin resistance and β-cell dysfunction, the odds ratios were 0.66 (95% CI = 0.45-0.97) and 3.50 (95% CI = 2.35-5.20), respectively, for Korean women compared with Filipino women after adjusting for age, BMI, smoking, alcohol, education, and marital status. When we performed covariance analysis (ANCOVA) in the IFG group, the least square mean of HOMA-β was significantly different between Korean women and Filipino women. However, the least square mean of HOMA-IR did not show a significant difference between Korean women and Filipino women. Conclusion: Our findings showed that native Korean women had a higher fasting plasma glucose after adjusting for age and BMI. Also, native Korean women had lower HOMA-β than immigrated Filipino women. Therefore, lower HOMA-β value might be associated with higher fasting plasma glucose in native Korean women.