Screening for diabetes, hypertension, and high cholesterol among Asian Americans in New York City

Background/Significance: Asian Americans face considerable disparities in cardiovascular disease (CVD) and have significantly higher rates of hypertension, diabetes, and cholesterol when compared to other races/ethnicities. Risk factors for CVD can go undetected if individuals fail to undergo regular screening exams. Objective/Purpose: To establish screening rates for diabetes, high cholesterol, and hypertension within Asian American communities in New York City (NYC); to determine factors related to a failure to complete screening exams. Methods: Community Health Needs and Resource Assessments (CHRNAs) were administered to 1307 Asian American individuals within 8 communities in NYC between 2004 and 2007 using community-based strategies. Groups were formed for each of the three screening tests to represent screened and unscreened individuals, and Chi-square tests assessed group differences. Significant variables will be placed into a logistic regression model in order to determine predictors of a failure to screen for hypertension, diabetes, and high cholesterol. Results: The CHRNAs found that 69% of individuals had undergone cholesterol screening, 79% had undergone cholesterol screening, and 63% had undergone diabetes screening. Rates differed by subgroup; for example, diabetes screening ranged from 40% among Vietnamese to 73% among Thai communities. Future analysis will detail outcomes by subgroups and will identify factors significantly related to screenings. Possible predictor variables include length of time in U.S., access to health care, socioeconomic status, and Asian subgroup. Discussion/Conclusions: We will further understand factors related to CVD screening within Asian American communities in NYC. Using this information, we can design better disease prevention strategies within these subgroups.