Demographic characteristics, acculturation and cardiovascular health in a high-risk Hispanic population in El Paso, TX

In this paper, we describe the demographics and the relation between acculturation and cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors in a sample of Mexican American (n=328) residents of El Paso, Texas. All participants had at least one risk CVD risk factor and agreed to participate in a randomized intervention trial aimed at CVD risk reduction.

Households were approached in randomly selected census tracts to screen for persons aged 30-75 with self-reported CVD risk factors including overweight, diabetes, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, and smoking. The mean age of participants was 53 years with a standard deviation (SD) =13 years; 53% was born in Mexico; 97% spoke Spanish, of whom 37% were monolingual Spanish speaking. Participants were low to moderately acculturated (Acculturation score= 2.32, SD=0.9 on a 1-5 scale); 68% were unemployed; 75% completed high school or less; 80% reported <$0,000 annual income; 46% had family history of CVD; 64% reported a family history of diabetes; 38% reported taking blood pressure medication; 23% reported taking cholesterol medication. At baseline their Body Mass Index (BMI) was 31 (SD=7) and 53% BMI>30. Framingham index scores (with LDL cholesterol) indicated that female participants had a 10 year Coronary Heart Disease risk of 11 ±8 percent, whereas males had a risk of 22 ±14 percent.

Most participants were women (n=232): among them acculturation was positively associated with diastolic blood pressure (p=0.035) and triglycerides (p=0.038). Males (n=96) who were more acculturated, were heavier (p=.033), had higher BMI (p=0.021) as well as larger waist circumference (p=0.017), but had lower systolic blood pressure (p=0.045). Participants in our study who were less acculturated had more CVD risk factors than their less acculturated counterparts. Culturally-sensitive prevention interventions integrating Community Health Worker/Promotores targeted to Hispanics as incorporated in this study are recommended.