Educational Attainment and Prevalence of Cardiovascular Health (Life's Simple 7) in Asian Americans.

Md Towfiqul Alam,Sandra E Echeverria,Melissa J Dupont-Reyes,Rosenda Murillo,Tailisha Gonzalez,Fatima Rodriguez,Elizabeth Vasquez

doi:10.3390/ijerph18041480

Abstract

Asian Americans have a high burden of cardiovascular disease, yet little is known about the social patterning of cardiovascular health (CVH) in this population. We examined if education (<high school diploma, high school diploma, some college, and college degree+) was associated with CVH and if this varied by time in the United States (U.S.). Our study population included Asian Americans 20+ years of age sampled in the 2011-16 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (n = 1634). Ideal cardiovascular health was based on a composite score of adiposity, total cholesterol, blood pressure, blood glucose, smoking, physical activity, and diet. We fit sequential weighted multivariate logistic regression models for all analyses. The prevalence of ideal cardiovascular (CV) health was 17.1% among those living in the U.S. <10 years, 7.1% for those living in the U.S. >10+ years, and 15.9% for the U.S.-born. All models showed that low education compared to high education was associated with lower odds of having ideal CVH. This pattern remained in adjusted models but became non-significant when controlling for nativity (odds ratio = 0.34, 95% confidence interval: 0.10, 1.13). Models stratified by time in the U.S. were less consistent but showed similar education gradients in CVH. Low education is a risk factor for attaining ideal cardiovascular health among Asian Americans, regardless of time in the U.S.

Highlights

IntroductionCardiovascular disease is the leading cause of mortality and morbidity in the United
Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of mortality and morbidity in the UnitedStates (U.S.)
We examined if education showed gradients in the composite cardiovascular health score and contributed to a handful of studies assessing the association between education and cardiovascular health, as defined by the American Heart Association [7,13,16]

Summary

Introduction

Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of mortality and morbidity in the United. A total of 655,000 Americans die from heart disease each year, representing one of four of all national deaths [1,2,3]. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), an American experiences a myocardial infarction every 40 s [4]. While the mortality rate associated with cardiovascular disease has decreased over the years, health improvement is not equitably shared across racial and ethnic subgroups [4]. Research shows Asian Americans have higher mortality related to cardiovascular disease compared to Non-Hispanic Whites [5,6]. The largest Asian American groups in the U.S

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Conclusion