Cardiovascular Disease

Cardiovascular disease (CVD or heart disease) was the leading cause of death for Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) men and women in 1980 and continues to remain the top disease killer for AAPIs in 2010. The lack of progress in a generation’s time poses an important public health challenge, especially in the Chicago metropolitan area where there are approximately 558,000 people of Asian descent, making this area the 6th largest concentration of AAPIs in the nation and largest in the Midwest region. Heart disease in AAPIs is highly correlated with adult diabetes mellitus, a co-morbidity that increases the health burden for Asian immigrant populations who are already highly vulnerable to negative health outcomes. 2008 NHIS data suggests that the prevalence of diabetes mellitus is higher among Asian Americans (4.3-8.2%) than Caucasians (3.8-6%). For some ethnic groups (e.g., South Asians) diabetes prevalence was as high as 14%. Research shows that despite the “model minority myth” that surrounds Asians, many tend to engage in poor health behaviors. Only 17.8% of Asian Americans met 2008 Federal Physical Activity Guidelines. Some Asian ethnicities tend to have high rates of smoking. For example, a survey conducted in Chicago’s Chinatown area revealed that over 30% of Chinese men living in this area smoke. Studies have shown that immigrant AAPIs also underutilize health services (NIH, 2000). Working in collaboration with community-based organization (CBO) partners, AHC aims to address these and other risk factors in order to reduce CVD and diabetes incidence in Chicago’s AAPI population.