Acculturation is associated with cardiovascular disease risk in West African immigrants in the United States
View File(s)
- Author(s)
- Details
-
Yvonne Commodore-Mensah, RN; Jerilyn K. Allen, RN; Martha N. Hill, RN; Cheryl Dennison Himmelfarb, RN, FAAN, FAHA
- Sigma Affiliation
- Nu Beta at-Large
Visitor Statistics
Visits vs Downloads
Visitors - World Map
Top Visiting Countries
Country | Visits |
---|
Top Visiting Cities
City | Visits |
---|
Visits (last 6 months)
Downloads (last 6 months)
Popular Works for Commodore-Mensah, Yvonne by View
Title | Page Views |
---|
Popular Works for Commodore-Mensah, Yvonne by Download
Title | Downloads |
---|
View Citations
Citations
Session presented on Monday, July 27, 2015:
Purpose: Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading cause of mortality and morbidity in the United States (US), accounting for more than 40% of all deaths, with ethnic minorities bearing a disproportionate burden of disease. The causes of increased risk for CVD in African-descent populations in the diaspora are incompletely understood. They may involve socio-economic and environmental factors, lifestyle changes, and cultural changes. These cultural changes (acculturation) that occur after migration of immigrants to the US may be detrimental or beneficial to health. The purpose of the Afro-Cardiac study was to examine the relationship between acculturation and CVD risk in West African immigrants in the US, who have increased 40-fold between 1990-2010.
Methods: A cross-sectional study of West African immigrants (Ghanaians and Nigerians) between the ages of 35-74 years was conducted in the Baltimore-Washington, DC metropolitan area. CVD risk factors (total cholesterol, HDL-cholesterol, hypertension, overweight/obesity, diabetes, physical inactivity and smoking) were determined according to the American Heart Association guidelines (AHA) guidelines. Participants with Pooled Cohort Equations (PCE) scores ?7.5% and ?3 CVD risk factors were deemed high risk for CVD in multivariable logistic analyses. Acculturation was assessed with length of residence (proxy) and the modified Psychological Acculturation Scale. Per this scale, individuals were classified as 1) Traditionalist, identified more with their ethnic culture than host culture; 2) Integrationist, developed a bicultural orientation and successfully integrated both cultures; 3) Assimilationist, identified more with the host culture than their ethnic culture; or 4) Marginalist, identified with neither the host nor ethnic cultures.
Results: Participants (n=253) had a mean age of 49.5 +/- 9.2 years and 58% were female. The mean length of US residence was 13.6 +/- 8.8 years. The prevalence of CVD risk factors was high with the exception of hyperlipidemia and smoking. The majority (54%) had ?3 CVD risk factors and 28% had PCE scores ?7.5%. About half (53%) of those who had hypertension were on antihypertensive treatment with females more likely to report taking their antihypertensive medication than their male counterparts (64% vs. 36%; p=0.003). Although females were significantly more likely to be treated for hypertension, males (71%) were more likely to have their BP controlled than females (42%) [p=0.045]. In males, residing in the US for ?10 years was significantly associated with a 5-fold (95%CI: 1.28-20.33) odds of overweight/obesity and an 8-fold (95%CI: 2.09-30.80) odds of having high CVD risk (PCE scores ?7.5%). Females who had resided in the US for ?10 years had a 3-fold (95%CI: 1.04-6.551) odds of being diagnosed with hypertension than newer residents. Acculturation strategies identified by participants were as follows: Integrationists, 166(66%); Traditionalists, 80(32%); Marginalists, 5(1%); or Assimilationists, 2(1%). Integrationists had a 0.46(95% CI: 0.24-0.87) lower odds of having ?3 CVD risk factors and 0.38(95% CI: 0.18-0.78) lower odds of having PCE score ?7.5% than Traditionalists.
Conclusion: Although increasing years of US residence was associated with higher CVD risk, we observed that Integrationists who equally identified with American and West-African cultures had lower risk for CVD and were more likely to have controlled blood pressures than Traditionalists who identified more with the West-African culture. Hence, ensuring the successful integration of West African immigrants may reduce the risk of CVD in new African immigrants. These findings suggest that acculturation should be considered as a meaningful predictor of increased CVD risk and culturally-sensitive tailoring of CVD risk reduction strategies may be needed in West African immigrants.
Research Congress 2015 Theme: Question Locally, Engage Regionally, Apply Globally. Held at the Puerto Rico Convention Center.
Items submitted to a conference/event were evaluated/peer-reviewed at the time of abstract submission to the event. No other peer-review was provided prior to submission to the Henderson Repository.
Type | Presentation |
Acquisition | Proxy-submission |
Review Type | Abstract Review Only: Reviewed by Event Host |
Format | Text-based Document |
Evidence Level | N/A |
Research Approach | N/A |
Keywords | Cardiovascular Disease; Acculturation; Immigrants |
Name | 26th international Nursing Research Congress |
Host | Sigma Theta Tau International |
Location | San Juan, Puerto Rico |
Date | 2015 |
All rights reserved by the author(s) and/or publisher(s) listed in this item record unless relinquished in whole or part by a rights notation or a Creative Commons License present in this item record.
All permission requests should be directed accordingly and not to the Sigma Repository.
All submitting authors or publishers have affirmed that when using material in their work where they do not own copyright, they have obtained permission of the copyright holder prior to submission and the rights holder has been acknowledged as necessary.
Related items
Showing items related by title, author, creator and subjects.
-
Provider cardiovascular risk management in an urban HIV practice
Abshire, Martha A.; Commodore-Mensah, Yvonne; Farley, Jason E.; Himmelfarb, Cheryl R. Dennison (2016-03-17)Session presented on Friday, July 24, 2015: Purpose: With the advancements of antiretroviral therapy (ART) persons living with HIV (PLWH) have experienced the benefits of longer life but may also be at increased cardiovascular ... -
Church-based recruitment of African immigrants: Evidence and lessons learned from the Afro-Cardiac Study
Commodore-Mensah, Yvonne; Cudjoe, Joycelyn; Himmelfarb, Cheryl R. Dennison (2017-07-27)African immigrants (AIs) are a growing yet understudied immigration population in the US. Churches that serve the AI population are a feasible and ideal setting for conducting community-based research to understand the ... -
Influence of social determinants of health on emergency department visits among individuals with cardiovascular disease
Baptiste, Diana Lyn; Commodore-Mensah, Yvonne; Turkson-Ocran, Ruth-Alma N.; Himmelfarb, Cheryl R. Dennison; Han, Hae-RaHealth disparities continue to be a concern among nurses. Individuals with coronary heart disease demonstrate a high frequency of emergency department (ED) visits to manage acute and chronic symptoms. ED revisits are often ... -
Impact of the Fuld Fellowship Program on patient safety competence and systems thinking
Gleason, Kelly T.; Commodore-Mensah, Yvonne; Himmelfarb, Cheryl R. Dennison; Walrath, Jo M.; VanGraafeiland, Brigit; Velez, Roseann (2016-07-13)Session presented on Sunday, July 24, 2016: Purpose: The growing complexity of healthcare worldwide is driving a need for nurse leaders with patient safety and quality improvement competencies. However, patient safety and ... -
Impact of social support and stress on blood pressure among West African immigrants
Turkson-Ocran, Ruth-Alma N.; Commodore-Mensah, Yvonne; Amadi, Ozioma A. (2017-07-26)Cardiovascular health may be influenced by stress and social support. However, this relationship has not been examined in African immigrants to the United States. The relationship between perceived stress, social support. ...