Social Determinants of Health Among Chinese Americans at Risk for Diabetes in a Mobile Diabetes Prevention Trial: Cross-Sectional Baseline Analysis

Background: Prediabetes is common in the United States, and adverse social determinants of health (SDOH) are known to undermine diabetes prevention efforts. Chinese Americans experience a disproportionately high prevalence of prediabetes, yet the SDOH profiles of this population remain understudied. Objective: This study assessed SDOH among Chinese Americans at risk for diabetes and examined the associations between sociodemographic characteristics and SDOH barriers. Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional analysis of baseline survey data from the Integrating Cultural Aspects into Diabetes Education (INCLUDE) study, a randomized controlled trial of a culturally and linguistically tailored mobile diabetes prevention intervention for Chinese Americans. Participants at risk for diabetes were enrolled between April 2023 and June 2024 in New York City (N=150). Measures included in the analyses were a 14-item SDOH scale (range 0-14, with higher scores indicating more barriers) and sociodemographic characteristics. Due to the small frequencies of high SDOH scores, we collapsed the outcome into 5 categories (0, 1, 2, 3, and 4-14) to improve model stability. We first used univariable logistic regression models to examine associations between each sociodemographic factor (age, sex, years of US residence, English proficiency, education, marital status, employment status, and annual household income) and the collapsed SDOH category, followed by a multivariable ordinal regression model including all sociodemographic variables. Results: A total of 150 participants had a mean age of 49.9 (SD 12.6) years. Most were female (n=124, 82.7%), born outside the United States (n=149, 99.3%), and reported speaking English less than very well (n=132, 88.0%). Among respondents to the SDOH items (n=149), the mean SDOH score was 2.4 (SD 2.3), and 81.9% (n=122) reported at least 1 SDOH barrier. The three most frequently reported barriers were (1) the need to improve English proficiency, reading skills, or educational attainment (n=77, 51.7%); (2) experiences of racial discrimination (n=49, 32.9%); and (3) adverse housing conditions (n=38, 25.5%). After collapsing the original SDOH score, 27 (18.2%) participants had a score of 0, 39 (26.2%) had a score of 1, 23 (15.4%) had a score of 2, 27 (18.2%) had a score of 3, and 33 (22.1%) had scores of 4 to 14. In the multivariable analysis, female sex (vs male) was associated with higher SDOH score categories (odds ratio 3.83, 95% CI 1.65-9.16; P=.002). Conclusions: SDOH-related barriers were prevalent among Chinese Americans at risk for diabetes. Diabetes prevention efforts should incorporate routine SDOH screening and structured resource navigation or referral pathways, with particular attention to subgroups at higher risk, such as female individuals.