Is greater acculturation associated with an increased prevalence of cardiovascular risk factors among Hispanic immigrants in South Florida?

Objective: To examine the association of acculturation with various cardiovascular risk factors (CVDRFs) among Hispanics in Southern Florida.

Methods: We performed a cross sectional analysis of baseline data collected as part of larger randomized clinical trial of 300 Latino patients with poorly controlled diabetes (HbA1c >=8.0%) recruited from the primary care clinics of Miami-Dade county’s public hospital. We grouped subjects into acculturation tertiles using the Marin Short Acculturation Scale. Correlations between acculturation and physiologic measures including hemoglobin A1C (A1C), low density lipoprotein (LDL), systolic blood pressure (SBP), and body mass index (BMI) we examined using ANOVA. Correlations with behavioral measures including smoking status, physical activity (IPAQ), and fruit and vegetable intake (BRFSS) were examined using Chisquare comparisons.

Results: Cubans made up 38% of our population; no other Hispanic subgroup represented over 15% of the sample. Of the eight outcomes examined only smoking status was associated with increased acculturation; 12% of Latinos in the two lowest acculturation groups were current smokers versus 25% in the highest acculturation group (p = 0.02). In contrast to our original hypothesis, we observed a non-significant trend of increased acculturation being associated with increased physical activity, and increased fruit and vegetable intake. We found no association between acculturation and AIC, LDL, SBP, or BMI.

Conclusions: With the exception of smoking, our data does not support a link between increased acculturation and higher prevalence of CVDRFs.  Factors leading to increased smoking among more acculturated Hispanic immigrants warrant additional investigation.