Foreign-born U.S. residents have lower prevalence of heart disease and stroke than U.S.-born adults
WEDNESDAY, March 28, 2018 (HealthDay News) — Foreign-born adults living in the United States have a lower prevalence of coronary heart disease (CHD) and stroke than adults born in the United States, according to a study published online March 28 in the Journal of the American Heart Association.
Jing Fang, M.D., from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, and colleagues used data from the National Health Interview Survey (2006 to 2014) to assess the prevalence of cardiovascular morbidity by birthplace among adults residing in the United States. Out of all U.S. adults, 16 percent were classified as foreign-born.
The researchers found that U.S.-born adults had higher age-standardized prevalence of both CHD and stroke than foreign-born adults (all P < 0.05). Compared with adults born in the United States, CHD prevalence was lower among foreign-born adults from Asia and Mexico, Central America, or the Caribbean. Men from South America or Africa had the lowest prevalence for stroke, while the lowest prevalence for women was among those from Europe. There was no association between years of living in the United States and risk of CHD or stroke, after adjusting for demographic and health characteristics.
“Considerable heterogeneity of CHD and stroke risk was found by region of birth,” the authors write.
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