According to the study, adverse social determinants of health, such as being unemployed and not having a high school degree, were associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease among Asian Americans. Research published today Published in the Journal of the American Heart Association.
The authors also noted that the association of these unfavorable factors with cardiovascular disease risk factors varied widely among the Asian subgroups represented in this study.
“Despite the recognition that Asian Americans are less affected by social determinants of health than other races and ethnicities, our findings demonstrate that unfavorable social factors are more prevalent in the Asian American group. “We show that this is associated with a higher prevalence of cardiovascular risk factors in the United States,” said lead author Dr. Johnson. Eugene Yang, a cardiologist and professor of clinical medicine at the University of Washington School of Medicine.
Researchers examined responses from 6,395 American adults who identified as Asian in the National Health Interview Survey conducted from 2013 to 2018. This study analyzed 27 variables in six areas of social determinants of health. Neighborhood trust, community and psychological distress measures, food security, access to education and health care. Survey participants' responses in these areas were identified as either favorable or unfavorable.
This analysis showed significant associations between unfavorable social variables and respondents to survey questions about cardiovascular risk factors such as suboptimal sleep and hypertension.
Across Asian respondents, each additional unfavorable social determinant of health was 14% more likely to have high blood pressure, 17% more likely to have unhealthy sleep, and 24% more likely to have type 2 diabetes. became.
Of the 6,395 Asian adults surveyed, 22% self-identified as Filipino adults. He ranks 22% among Asian Indian adults. 21% as Chinese adults and 36% as other. The number of respondents representing other major Asian groups, such as Japanese, Korean, and Vietnamese, was too small to disaggregate in the analysis.
Within demographic subgroups, more adverse social determinants were associated with:
- Chinese adults are 45% more likely to have type 2 diabetes, while Filipino adults are 24% more likely.
- Filipino adults have a 28% higher risk of high blood pressure.
- The odds of being physically inactive increased by 42% for Asian Indian adults, by 58% for Chinese adults, and by 24% for Filipino adults.
- Asian Indian adults have a 20% chance of suboptimal sleep.
- The likelihood of nicotine exposure for Chinese and Filipino adults was 56% and 50%, respectively.
Compared with other subgroups, adults who identified as Filipino reported the highest prevalence of four of seven cardiovascular risk factors: poor sleep, high cholesterol, hypertension, and obesity.
“It's important to understand how different subgroups in Asia will be affected,” Yang said. “When lumped together with Asians, high-risk groups such as South Asians may not receive enough aggressive treatment, while lower-risk groups such as Koreans and Japanese can lead to overtreatment of blood pressure and cholesterol.
“The Asian American population is one of the fastest growing racial/ethnic groups in the United States,” Yang said. “South Asians have a high prevalence of early-onset heart disease worldwide and have recently been found to have higher cardiovascular mortality than non-Hispanic whites. Differences in cardiovascular risk among Asian subgroups. It is important to have a deeper understanding of why it exists.”
Co-authors, disclosure information, and funding sources are listed in the manuscript.
– Excerpt from American Heart Association news release
Related: Download broadcast-ready soundbites with Dr. Eugene Yang.
