Author Interviews, Heart Disease, JACC, NIH, Race/Ethnic Diversity / 31.05.2015
Young and Female Low Socioeconomic African Americans At Increased Risk of Cardiovascular Disease
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
Dr. Samson Y. Gebreab, Ph.D., M.Sc.
Lead Study Author and Research Scientist
National Human Genome Research Institute
Bethesda, Maryland
Medical Research: What is the background for this study?
Dr. Gebreab: It is well known that African Americans hold a commanding lead in cardiovascular disease (CVD) mortality and morbidity compared to whites and other ethnic groups. Furthermore, the risk for developing CVD begins early in life and extends over a lifecourse. Previous studies have indicated the influence of both childhood and adult socioeconomic status (SES) on CVD risk. However, the impact of lifecourse socioeconomic status (both childhood and adulthood) on CVD risk in African American population is not fully understood. The purpose of our study was to investigate the associations of different measures of lifecourse socioeconomic status with cardiovascular disease risk in African Americans and whether the associations were modified by sex and/ or age after controlling for known cardiovascular disease risk factors. We analyzed 10-year follow-up data of African American adults who were participating in Jackson Heart Study, Jackson, MS.
Medical Research: What are the main findings?
Dr. Gebreab: Our findings highlights that among those of lower socioeconomic status, women and younger (<=50 years old) African Americans are at increased risk of CVD, including heart disease and stroke compared to their counterparts of higher socioeconomic status groups.
African American women in the lowest socioeconomic status, had more than twice the risk of developing cardiovascular disease than those in the highest socioeconomic status group.
African Americans of 50 years and younger in the lowest socioeconomic status group had more than three times higher risk of experiencing a cardiovascular disease event than those in the highest socioeconomic status group.
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