LAUSR

Background: Greater acculturation is associated with increased risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD). However, little is known about the association between acculturation and ideal cardiovascular health (CVH) as measured by the American Heart Association’s Life’s Simple 7 (LS7) metric. We investigated the association between acculturation and ideal CVH among a multi-ethnic cohort of United States (US) adults free of clinical CVD at baseline. Methods: This is a cross-sectional analysis of 6,506 adults aged 45-84 years from the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis. The independent variables were measures of acculturation [birthplace, language spoken at home and years lived in the US (foreign-born participants)]. The primary dependent variable was the CVH score derived from the LS7 metrics and the total CVH score ranged from 0-14 points. Scores of 0-8 indicate inadequate, 9-10 average and 11-14 optimal CVH. We used multivariable logistic and multiple linear regression models to examine the association between acculturation and CVH, adjusting for age, sex, race/ethnicity, education, income and health insurance. Results: The mean age (SD) was 62 (10) years and 53% were women. US-born participants had lower odds of having optimal CVH scores [prevalence odds ratio (POR) 0.63 (0.50-0.79), Table ] compared to foreign-born participants. Participants who spoke Chinese and other foreign languages at home had higher odds of having optimal CVH compared to those who spoke English [POR 1.91 (1.08-3.36) & 1.65 (1.04-2.63), respectively]. Among foreign-born participants, years lived in the US was associated with a decrease in CVH score [β coefficient -0.01 (-0.02, -0.01)]. Conclusion: Greater US acculturation was associated with poorer CVH. This finding suggests that promotion of ideal CVH should be encouraged among immigrant populations since more years lived in the US is associated with a decline in CVH score.