Discrimination is associated with elevated cardiovascular disease risk among african immigrants in the African immigrant health study

Abstract

Background: African Americans and other persons of African descent in the United States are disproportionately affected by cardiovascular diseases (CVD). Discrimination is associated with higher CVD risk among US adults; however, this relationship is unknown among African immigrants. Objective: To examine the associations among discrimination, resilience, and CVD risk in African immigrants. Methods: The African Immigrant Health Study was a cross-sectional study of African immigrants in Baltimore-Washington, DC, with recruitment and data collection taking place between June 2017 and April 2019. The main outcome was elevated CVD risk, the presence of ≥3 CVD risk factors including hypertension, diabetes, high cholesterol, overweight/obesity, tobacco use, and poor diet. The secondary outcomes were these six individual CVD risk factors. The exposure was discrimination measured with the Everyday Discrimination Scale; summed scores ≥2 on each item indicated frequent experiences of discrimination. Resilience was assessed with the 10-item Connor-Davidson resilience scale. Logistic regression was used to examine the odds of elevated CVD risk, adjusting for relevant covariates. Results: We included 342 participants; 61% were females. The mean (±SD) age was 47(±11) years, 61% had at least a bachelor’s degree, 18% had an income