Differences in coronary heart disease risk markers among apparently healthy individuals of African ancestry.

OBJECTIVE

This study identified and compared coronary heart disease (CHD) risk factors among foreign-born Afro Caribbeans (FBAC), U.S.-born Afro-Caribbean Americans (USBAC) and African Americans.

METHODS

Sixty-six FBAC living in the United States for <10 years, 62 USBAC and 61 African-American adults (18-40 years) were recruited. Sociodemographic, behavioral and biochemical data were collected and analyzed.

RESULTS

More USBAC (26.2%) and African-American (23.7%) participants compared to the FBAC (10.8%) participants had significantly (p < 0.05) poorer diet scores and were significantly (p < 0.05) more obese (17.7% and 23.0% vs. 7.6%). These differences remained significant between the male ethnic groups but not the females. Also, more USBAC and African-American participants compared to FBAC participants watched television often/very often (54.8% and 49.2% vs. 45.5%), played less sports (56.5% and 55.7% vs. 40.9%) and smoked cigarettes (4.8% and 6.6% vs. 0.0%). In general, USBAC and African-American participants were more likely to have elevated blood glucose (BG), total cholesterol (TC), low-density-lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) and high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) levels compared to FBAC participants. More FBAC than USBAC and African-American participants had elevated blood pressure (BP) and low levels of high-density-lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C). However, the differences were not significant.

CONCLUSION

This study demonstrated that there are differences in risk factors for CHD among ethnic groups (FBAC, USBAC and African-American participants) of persons with African ancestory.