149296 Cardiovascular health among Vietnamese-Americans compared to non-Hispanic Whites in California

Monday, November 5, 2007

Tung Nguyen, MD , Division of General Internal Medicine, Department of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA
Youlian Liao, MD , Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanda, GA
Ginny Gildengorin, PhD , Childrens Hospital Oakland Research Institute, Oakland, CA
Janice Tsoh, PhD , Department of Psychiatry, UCSF, San Francisco, CA
Ngoc BuiTong, MHA , Santa Clara County Ambulatory and Community health Services, San Jose, CA
Thoa Nguyen , Division of General Internal Medicine, Department of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA
Steve McPhee, MD , Division of General Internal Medicine, Department of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA
Background

There are few population-based studies of the cardiovascular health of Vietnamese-Americans.

Methods

We compared the Vietnamese REACH 2010 Risk Factor Survey in Santa Clara County, California to the California Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance Survey (BRFSS) from 2002 to 2005. Both were annual cross-sectional telephone surveys. The REACH survey used listed surnames, included Vietnamese women aged 40-64 and < 2 other household members aged 18+, and was conducted in English or Vietnamese. The BRFSS used random digit dialing, included 1 household member aged 18+, and was conducted in English or Spanish. REACH survey response rate was 64%; the BRFSS rate was 69%. Analyses were based on 4,254 Vietnamese-American and 19,324 non-Hispanic White respondents. Weighted statistics were calculated for each variable. Results

Vietnamese-Americans were significantly less likely than non-Hispanic Whites to report body mass index >30 kg/m2 (2.0% vs. 20.9%, p<0.0001), diabetes mellitus (5.5% vs. 7.2%, p=0.0003), or myocardial infarction (2.8% vs. 3.0%, p=0.003) but similar prevalence of stroke, hypertension, and hypercholesterolemia. Vietnamese-Americans were less likely to eat >5 servings of fruits and vegetables daily (16.3% vs. 27.7%, p<0.0001) or meet all recommended physical activity levels (22.2% vs. 31.4%, p<0.0001). Vietnamese-American men were more likely to be current smokers (30.8% vs. 19.4%, p<0.0001). Only 58.9% of Vietnamese-Americans knew that chest pain was a symptom of heart attack and 67.4% knew that sudden numbness was a symptom of stroke.

Conclusion

Interventions to increase the knowledge of cardiovascular disease and reduce cardiovascular risk factors including smoking, diet, and exercise among Vietnamese-Americans are needed.

Learning Objectives:
1)Learn about the rates of cardiovascular diseases and their risk factors among Vietnamese and non-Latino Whites in California. 2)Learn about the differences in the rates between these two populations.

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Any relevant financial relationships? No
Any institutionally-contracted trials related to this submission?

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.

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