Table 1 Characteristics of the South Asian Immigrants in Abu Dhabi, UAE 2012

a

Age-years (mean)

36.3 (35.3, 37.2)

34.8 (33.7, 35.9)

31.7 (31.0, 32.5)

0.000

Age group-years (%)

18-35 (years)

50.0 (48.7, 51.3)

59.6 (54.4, 64.7)

71.1 (66.3, 75.7)

0.000

36-45 (years)

28.1 (23.5, 32.7)

20.5 (16.4, 24.9)

20.8 (16.7, 25.1)

46+ (years)

21.9 (17.8, 26.3)

19.9 (15.8, 24.2)

8.1 (5.1, 11.1)

Education (%)

None

3.1 (1.6, 5.0)

23.9 (19.6, 28.4)

12.9 (10.2, 15.9)

0.000

Primary or middle

23.3 (19.2, 27.6)

31.4 (26.7, 36.2)

46.0 (41.7, 50.2)

Secondary or high school

36.9 (32.2, 41.7)

28.3 (23.7, 33.1)

27.6 (23.8, 31.5)

College or university

36.7 (31.7, 41.5)

16.4 (12.7, 20.4)

13.5 (6.6, 22.3)

Income – AED (%)

Bottom quartile

13.5 (10.4, 16.8)

17.2 (7.7, 21.2)

44.2 (13.6, 48.3)

0.000

Second quartile

19.8 (16.2, 23.7)

21.1 (8.6, 25.4)

22.0 (8.9, 25.5)

Third quartile

39.5 (34.9, 44.1)

28.2 (10.2, 32.8)

21.5 (8.8, 25.0)

Top quartile

27.2 (23.2, 31.5)

33.4 (11.4, 38.2)

12.3 (6.4, 15.2)

Immigrated from a rural village (%)

64.3 (59.3, 69.1)

56.7 (51.3, 61.9)

83.2 (79.7, 86.3)

Married (%)

78.5 (74.1, 82.5)

75.3 (70.5, 79.7)

60.1 (55.7, 64.3)

Do not live with immediate family (%)

88.6 (85.0, 91.6)

88.4 (84.7, 91.6)

81.0 (77.4, 84.3)

Type of accommodation (%)

Shared with non-relatives

51.4 (46.4, 56.3)

41.1 (36.1, 46.2)

58.6 (54.5, 62.8)

0.000

Shared with family

10.5 (7.6, 13.7)

15.0 (11.8, 19.3)

7.8 (5.6, 10.2)

Single accommodation

13.3 (10.1, 16.8)

11.1 (8.1, 14.5)

8.9 (6.6, 11.5)

Live with sponsor

13.3 (10.1, 16.8)

16.7 (13.0, 20.7)

12.2 (9.5, 15.1)

Live in a labor camp

11.5 (8.5, 14.8)

16.1 (12.5, 20.1)

12.4 (9.7, 15.3)

Years in UAE (%)

Up to 1 year

11.2 (8.1, 14.6)

10.5 (7.4, 14.1)

10.3 (7.6, 13.3)

0.000

2 to 5 years

31.3 (26.6, 36.2)

30.5 (25.5, 35.7)

38.6 (34.1, 43.2)

6 to 10 years

21.2 (17.1, 25.6)

17.1 (13.1, 21.4)

23.1 (19.3, 27.1)

>10 years

36.3 (31.4, 41.3)

41.9 (36.5, 47.4)

28.0 (23.9, 32.2)

b

Occupation (%)

Driver

21.5 (17.5, 25.7)

33.9 (29.1, 38.8)

19.2 (16.0, 22.7)

0.000

Laborer

14.1 (10.8, 17.2)

12.8 (9.5,16.4)

20.3 (17.0, 23.8)

Construction worker

12.6 (9.5, 16.1)

8.3 (5.7, 11.4)

13.1 (10.4, 16.1)

Agriculture worker

8.2 (5.6,11.1)

25.0 (20.7, 29.6)

20.5 (17.2, 24.1)

Salesman

12.6 (9.5, 16.1)

3.1 (1.6, 5.1)

3.3 (2.2, 5.4)

Professional, office worker

10.8 (7.9, 14.1)

6.7 (4.4, 9.5)

3.6 (2.2, 5.4)

Business shop keeper

5.4 (3.4, 7.8)

4.2 (2.4, 6.5)

4.0 (2.5, 5.8)

Hospitality worker (cook, waiter)

8.2 (5.7, 11.1)

0.8 (0.5, 11.0)

6.5 (4.6, 8.8)

Tailor

3.6 (1.9, 5.7)

1.9 (0.7, 3.5)

6.8 (4.8, 9.1)

Other

3.1 (1.6, 5.0)

3.3 (1.7, 5.4)

2.7 (1.5, 4.3)

Family history of hypertension (%)

14.8 (11.4, 18.8)

15.0 (11.5, 19.1)

23.2 (19.6, 27.1)

0.001

Family history of diabetes (%)

15.9 (12.4, 19.9)

8.1 (5.5, 11.4)

8.9 (6.6. 11.7)

0.000

Body mass index – kg/m [2] (mean)

31.5 (21.1, 41.9)

26.6 (25.1, 27.9)

26.2 (24.2, 28.2)

0.000

Waist-to-hip ratio (mean)

0.93 (0.92, 0.94)

0.93 (0.92, 0.94)

0.92 (0.90, 0.93)

0.033

Waist circumference – cm (mean)

89.5 (88.5, 90.5)

92.9 (90.8, 93.5)

85.6 (84.7, 86.6)

0.000

Smoking (%)

34.3 (29.6, 39.3)

35.8 (30.1, 41.0)

49.1 (44.7, 53.4)

0.000

Smokeless tobacco (%)

5.2 (3.1, 7.9)

11.1 (8.0, 14.9)

15.6 (12.6, 19.1)

0.000

Exposure to second hand tobacco (%)

40.7 (35.8, 45.8)

49.7 (44.4, 55.0)

46.7 (42.4, 51.1)

0.000

Drinking alcohol – ever (%)

20.1 (16.1, 24.4)

3.1 (1.6, 5.5)

7.8 (5.6, 10.4)

0.000

Walk 7 days a week (%)

81.1 (76.7, 84.9)

85.9 (81.9, 89.4)

77.2 (73.3, 80.8)

0.006

Reported vigorous physical activity (%)

17.1 (13.5, 20.6)

18.8 (14.8, 22.7)

18.6 (15.4, 21.8)

0.774

Reported moderate physical activity (%)

20.5 (16.7, 24.4)

18.9 (14.8, 22.7)

37.0 (33.1, 41.0)

0.000

BP measurement – never (%)

57.3 (51.9, 62.4)

62.7 (57.2, 67.9)

68.8 (64.0, 73.2)

0.004

Hypertension (%)

34.5 (30.1, 39.1)

28.2 (23.6, 32.7)

28.8 (25.0, 32.6)

0.073

Physician diagnosed diabetes (%)

10.8 (7.9, 13.8)

6.5 (4.0, 9.0)

6.8 (4.7, 8.9)

0.030

HbA1c ≥ 6.5 %

11.6 (1.6, 21.6)

4.3 (−0.4, 13.4)

9.1 (1.2, 19.4)

0.618

Systolic Blood Pressure – mmHg (mean)

132.6 (130.9, 134.4)

129.2 (127.4, 131.0)

129.1 (127.7, 130.5)

0.003

Diastolic Blood Pressure – mmHg (mean)

79.6 (78.4, 80.8)

75.9 (74.7, 77.2)

76.7 (75.6, 77.7)

0.000