Heart Disease and Asians and Pacific Islanders

Overall, Asian American adults are less likely than white adults to have heart disease and they are less likely to die from heart disease. In general, Asian American adults have lower rates of being overweight or obese, lower rates of hypertension, and they are less likely to be current cigarette smokers.

Asian Americans are 50% less likely to die from heart disease

At a glance – Diagnosed Cases of Heart Disease:

**Age-adjusted percentages of coronary heart disease among persons 18 years of age and over, 2010**
Asians	Non-Hispanic White	Asian/Non-Hispanic White Ratio
4.9	6.6	0.7

Source: CDC 2011. Summary Health Statistics for U.S. Adults: 2010. Table 2.
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/series/sr_10/sr10_252.pdf [PDF | 1.6MB]

At a glance – Death Rate:

**Age-Adjusted Heart Disease Death Rates per 100,000 (2009)**
	Asians/Pacific Islanders	Non-Hispanic White	Asians/Pacific Islanders /Non- Hispanic White Ratio
Men	125.4	231.1	0.5
Women	77.9	142.1	0.5
Total	98.6	180.9	0.5

Source: CDC, 2012. National Vital Statistics Report. Vol. 60, Num 3 Tables 16 and 17.
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr60/nvsr60_03.pdf [PDF | 2MB]

At a Glance – Risk Factors:

There are several risk factors related to diabetes. Some of these risk factors are:

Obesity and Overweight – See Obesity and Asian Americans

Hypertension

**Age-adjusted percentage of persons 18 years of age and over who have high blood pressure, 2010.**
Asians	Non-Hispanic White	Asian/Non-Hispanic White Ratio
20.5	23.9	0.9

Source: CDC 2011. Summary Health Statistics for U.S. Adults: 2010. Table 2.
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/series/sr_10/sr10_252.pdf [PDF | 1.6MB]

Percent of adults age 18 and over with hypertension whose blood pressure is under control
Not available at this time.

High Cholesterol
Age-adjusted percentage of persons 20 years of age and over who have high cholesterol
Not available at this time.

**Age-adjusted percentage of adults (men and women) with high cholesterol, 2001-2002 (BRFSS, REACH 2010 Surveys)**
Population	% diagnosed with high cholesterol	Ratio vs. General Population
Asians	28.5	1.0
U.S. General Public	29.7	--
Cambodians (Lowell, MA)	24.5	0.8
Vietnamese (LA, Orange, and Santa Clara Counties, CA)	24.8	0.8

Source: CDC, 2004. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report: 53(33): 760-765, Table 1.
http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/PDF/wk/mm5333.pdf [PDF | 359KB]

**Age-adjusted percentage of adults (men and women) who had their blood cholesterol checked, 2001-2002 (BRFSS, REACH 2010 Surveys)**
Population	% checked blood cholesterol	Ratio vs. General Population
Asians	70.1	0.9
U.S. General Public	77.4	--
Cambodians (Lowell, MA)	47.7	0.6
Vietnamese (LA, Orange, and Santa Clara Counties, CA)	68.3	0.9

Source: CDC, 2004. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report: 53(33): 760-765, Table 1.
http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/PDF/wk/mm5333.pdf [PDF | 359KB]

**Adults who received a blood cholesterol measurement in the last 5 years, 2008**
Asians	Non-Hispanic White	Asian/Non-Hispanic White Ratio
80.5	74.1	1.1

Source: 2011 National Healthcare Disparities Report. Table 2_1_3.2b and 2a.
http://www.ahrq.gov/qual/qrdr11/index.html

Cigarette Smoking

**Age-adjusted percentage of persons 18 years of age and over who are current cigarette smokers, 2010.**
Asian	Non-Hispanic White	Asian/White Ratio
9.3	21.7	0.4

Source: CDC 2011. Summary Health Statistics for U.S. Adults: 2010. Table 25.
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/series/sr_10/sr10_252.pdf [PDF | 1.6MB]

Percentage of current smokers age 18 and over with a checkup who reported receiving advice to quit smoking
Not available at this time.

**Age-Adjusted Percent of persons 18+ who currently smoke, 2008 - 2010**
	Asians	Non-Hispanic White	Asians /Non-Hispanic White Ratio
Male	15.3	23.9	0.6
Female	5.5	20.9	0.3

Source: CDC 2012. Health United States, 2011. Table 62.
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/hus/hus11.pdf [PDF | 9.8MB]

At a Glance – Treatment:

Aspirin Therapy

Percent of heart attack patients administered aspirin within 24 hours of admission, 2006*
Asians/Pacific Islanders	White	Asians/Pacific Islanders /White Ratio
96.8	96.6	1.0

Source: 2008 National Healthcare Disparities Report. Table 4_2_2.1
http://www.ahrq.gov/qual/qrdr08/4_heartdiseases/T4_2_2-1.htm

Beta Blockers

Percent of heart attack patients administered beta blocker within 24 hours of admission, 2006*
Asians/Pacific Islanders	White	Asians/Pacific Islanders /White Ratio
94.3	93.4	1.0

Source: 2008 National Healthcare Disparities Report. Table 4_2_4.1.
http://www.ahrq.gov/qual/qrdr08/4_heartdiseases/T4_2_4-1.htm

**Hospital patients with heart attack who were prescribed ACE inhibitor or ARB at discharge, United States, 2009**
Asian	White	Asian/White Ratio
95.4	93.1	1.0

Source: 2011 National Healthcare Disparities Report. Table 2_3_3.1.
http://www.ahrq.gov/qual/qrdr11/index.html

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Content Last Modified: 8/29/2012 9:20:00 AM

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