Top Things to Know: Call to Action: Cardiovascular Disease in Asian Americans
Published: August 23, 2010
- Asian Americans are the fastest growing racial/ethnic groups in the United States, representing 25% of all foreign-born people.
- Asian Americans are projected to reach nearly 34 million by 2050.
- Six subgroups of Asian Americans make up 90 percent of the Asian American population; the three largest Asian subgroups are Asian Indian, Chinese, and Filipino.
- Major federal surveys have only recently started to classify Asian Americans into six subgroups and have added an additional category for a total of seven: Asian Indian, Chinese, Filipino, Korean, Japanese, Vietnamese and Other Asian.
- Although few studies of CVD have examined Asian American subgroups separately, limited data on coronary artery disease (CAD) in Asian Americans strongly suggest that some subgroups are at increased risk.
- Studies that have evaluated specific subgroups show higher rates of CAD in Asian Indians, higher rates of hemorrhagic stroke among Japanese and Chinese Americans, and more intracerebral hemorrhage in Filipino Americans.
- Risk factors for Asian Americans differ from those for Caucasians, for example, body mass index (BMI) is normal at less than 25 for Caucasians, but among Asians normal BMI is less than 23.
- Adoption of Western culture may result in unhealthy dietary and physical activity practices, which has been shown both in Asia and in the U.S.
- Specific opportunities to improve the assessment of health disparities among Asian Americans are presented.
- Detailed changes in existing data collection are described.
Citation
Palaniappan LP, Araneta MRG, Assimes TL, et al; on behalf of the American Heart Association Council on Epidemiology and Prevention Council on Peripheral Vascular Disease Council on Nutrition Physical Activity and Metabolism and Council on Clinical Cardiology. Call to action: cardiovascular disease in Asian Americans: a science advisory from the American Heart Association. Circulation 2010; published online before print August 23, 2010, 10.1161/CIR.0b013e3181f22af4.