Abstract P474: The Association Between Acculturation and Cardiovascular Disease Risk Factors: The African Immigrant Health Study

Abstract

Introduction: African immigrants are a growing population with over 2.1 million residing in the United States (U.S). Like African Americans, their African descent counterparts, African immigrants have an increased risk of developing cardiovascular disease (CVD). Hypothesis: We hypothesized that greater length of residence in the U.S. will be associated with an increased number of CVD risk factors among African Immigrants. Methods: The African Immigrant Health Study was a cross-sectional study of African immigrants living in the Baltimore-Washington, D.C Metropolitan area. The main outcome of interest was high CVD risk, defined as the presence of ≥2 CVD risk factors including hypertension, diabetes, high cholesterol, and overweight/obesity. The secondary outcomes were the 4 CVD risk factors examined individually. The exposure was length of U.S. stay, used as a proxy for acculturation and defined as < 10 years or ≥ 10 years in the U.S. Logistic regression was used to examine the odds of high CVD risk and the individual CVD risk factors, adjusting for relevant covariates. Results: We included N=317 African immigrants, with mean(±se) age 48(±12) years, 61% were female, 63% had a Bachelor’s degree or higher, 81% were employed, and 59% had lived in the US ≥10 years. Unadjusted, African immigrants with longer length of stay were more likely to have the four CVD risk factors examined. African Immigrants who had lived in the U.S. ≥ 10 years were 1.89 times (95%CI: 1.03-3.46) more likely to have ≥2 CVD risk factors than those who had lived in the U.S. < 10 years after adjusting for age, income, employment status, insurance status, and routine place for healthcare. The unadjusted and adjusted results are presented in the Table. Conclusion: African immigrants who had lived in the US ≥10 years were more likely to have more CVD risk factors than those who had lived in the U.S. for <10 years. CVD risk increases with length of stay in this population, underscoring the need for length of stay to be considered as a meaningful determinant of CVD risk.