Advanced Medicine and Telemedicine Diagnostic Center [Centro de Diagnóstico y Medicina Avanzada y Telemedicina (CEDIMAT)]. Department of Cardiology. Pepillo Salcedo Street and Arturo Logroño Street, Ensanche La Fe, Santo Domingo
Donaldo Collado
Dominican Society of Cardiology [Sociedad Dominicana de Cardiología (SODOCARDIO)], 403 Santiago Street, Santo Domingo
Albert Einstein College of Medicine. Department of Epidemiology & Population Health. 1300 Morris Park Avenue, Bronx, NY 10461; Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center. Public Health Sciences Division. 1100 Fairview Ave N, Seattle, WA 98109
Franklyn Gonzalez II
University of North Carolina. Department of Biostatistics. 123 W. Franklin St., Suite 450, CB# 8030, Chapel Hill, NC 27516
University of Illinois at Chicago, College of Medicine. Institute for Minority Health Research. 835 S Wolcott Ave (Bldg 935). Mailbox #23 (M/C 769). Chicago, IL 60612
University of Illinois at Chicago, College of Medicine. Institute for Minority Health Research. 835 S Wolcott Ave (Bldg 935). Mailbox #23 (M/C 769). Chicago, IL 60612
Background: Hispanics/Latinos of Dominican background living in United States (US) have the highest hypertension prevalence compared with other Hispanic/Latino persons. Objective: To understand cardiovascular health among Dominicans, we evaluated hypertension prevalence and risk factors among Dominicans from the US and Dominican Republic (DR) using data from Hispanic Community Health Study/ Study of Latinos [HCHS/SOL] and the Prevalencia de Hipertension Arterial y Factores de Riesgo Cardiovasculares en la República Dominicana al 2017 (ENPREFAR-HAS 17) study. Methods: Hypertension was defined as blood pressure ≥140/90 mmHg, self-reported hypertension, or antihypertensive use. Exposures included sociodemographic/socioeconomic, clinical, and lifestyle/behavioral characteristics. Weighted generalized linear models were used to estimate associations between study characteristics and hypertension prevalence (PR = prevalence ratio), age-and-sex adjusted. HCHS/SOL (n = 1,473, US Dominicans; mean age 41 years, 60.4% female) was analyzed with survey procedures, while ENPREFAR-HAS 17 (n = 2,015 DR Dominicans; mean age 40 years, 50.3% female) was analyzed with statistical analyses for simple random sampling. Results: Hypertension prevalence was 30.5% and 26.9% for DR and US Dominicans, respectively. Hypertension control was low in both cohorts (36.0% DR, 35.0% US). Alcohol use among DR Dominicans was inversely associated with hypertension prevalence (PRDR = 0.8) with no association among US Dominicans. In both settings, diabetes (PRDR = 1.4; PRUS = 1.4) and obesity (PRDR = 1.8; PRUS = 2.0) were associated with greater hypertension prevalence in Hispanics/Latinos of Dominican background. Physical activity was lower among US Dominicans (PR = 0.80) but higher among DR Dominicans (PR = 1.16); all p < 0.05. Conclusions: Variations in social, lifestyle/behavioral, and clinical characteristics associated with hypertension among Dominicans in the US and DR were identified, suggesting that social context and cultural factors matter among immigrant populations.
