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Abstract: Background. This study uses the Framingham Risk Score (FRS) for 10-year cardiovascular disease (CVD) to evaluate differences between Mexican American immigrants and the U.S.-born population. Methods and Results. Data from the Cameron County Hispanic Cohort (N=1,559). Average total risk scores were generated by age group for each gender. Regression analysis was conducted adjusting for covariates and interaction effects. Both women and men in the CCHC sample who were long-term immigrant residents (mean FRS scores women 4.2 with p<.001 vs. men 4.0 with p<.001) or born in the U.S. (mean FRS scores women 4.6 with p<.001 vs. men 3.3 with p<.001) had significantly higher risk scores than immigrants who had only been in this country for less than 10 years. The interaction model indicates that differences between immigrant and native-born Mexican Americans are most greatly felt at lowest levels of socioeconomic status for men in the CCHC. Conclusions. This study suggests that in terms of immigrant advantage in CVD risk, on whom, where, and how the comparisons are being made have important implications for the degree of difference observed.
Key words: Framingham risk score; Mexican American; risk factors; immigrant; cardiovascular disease.
Cardiovascular diseases (CVD) are among the leading causes of mortality for both men and women in the United States.1 African Americans have the highest mortality rates from CVD, followed by non-Hispanic Whites and then Mexican Americans.2 Since Mexican Americans are more likely to live in poverty than non-Hispanic Whites, the fact that they have lower CVD mortality is unusual because it has been linked to economic disadvantage in other ethnic groups.3 Immigration is a common explanation for the lower CVD mortality among Mexican Americans,4 since over 50% of Mexican Americans are born in Mexico, and immigrants are known to have better health and mortality outcomes than their native-born counterparts.5-8 In fact, Mexican American immigrants have been observed to have lower subclinical vascular disease than non- Hispanic Whites and U.S.-born Mexican Americans, and, lower biological risk factors for CVD and mortality (such as triglycerides and cholesterol).9-10 Moreover, when comparing U.S.-born and immigrant Mexican American cardiovascular mortality to that of non-Hispanic Whites, it is only the immigrants who have the advantage over the non-Hispanic Whites.4
Immigration is an economic process in which people come to...