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. 2012 Dec;30(12):2285-92.
doi: 10.1097/HJH.0b013e3283599b9a.

Association of birthplace and self-reported hypertension by racial/ethnic groups among US adults--National Health Interview Survey, 2006-2010

Jing Fang  1 , Carma Ayala, Fleetwood Loustalot
Affiliations

Association of birthplace and self-reported hypertension by racial/ethnic groups among US adults--National Health Interview Survey, 2006-2010

Jing Fang et al. J Hypertens. 2012 Dec.

Abstract

Background: Over the past few decades, the proportion of US adults who were foreign-born has been increasing, as has the overall prevalence of hypertension. Here, we compared the prevalence of self-reported hypertension among native-born adults with that among foreign-born adults, classified by racial/ethnic group.

Methods: Using 2006-2010 data from the National Health Interview Survey (NHIS), we compared the age-adjusted prevalence of hypertension among native-born adults to foreign-born adults, specified by continent of birthplace and race/ethnicity. Results are expressed as unadjusted odds ratios (ORs) and three sets of adjusted odds ratios (AORs) adjusted for selected sociodemographic, behavioral and health-related characteristics. All results accounted for NHIS sampling design variables.

Results: The analytic sample was 124,260 with 16.3% foreign-born adults. Among the foreign-born adults, 56% were from Central or South America, 22% from Asia, 13% from Europe, and 4% from Africa. Overall and after adjustment, hypertension prevalence was significantly higher among US-born adults than among foreign-born adults (AOR: 1.28, 95% CI: 1.21-1.36). By race/ethnicity, hypertension prevalence was higher among US-born non-Hispanic blacks than either foreign-born non-Hispanic blacks (AOR: 1.24, 95%CI: 1.02-1.50) or all Africa-born immigrants of any race/ethnicity [AOR: 1.45, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.07-1.97]. Among foreign-born adults, duration of US residence was positively associated with the likelihood of hypertension.

Conclusion: Hypertension prevalence was higher among US-born adults than among foreign-born adults and higher among US-born non-Hispanic blacks than in any other group. Among foreign-born adults, hypertension risk increased with the number of years they had lived in the United States.

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Conflict of interest statement

All authors have no conflicts of interest

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Racial/ethnic distribution among US immigrants, by region of birth—National Health Interview Survey, 2006–2010
Figure 2
Figure 2
Graph of adjusted odds ratios1 and their 95% confidence intervals depicting risk for hypertension by duration of US residency in four immigrant groups relative to the risk among residents of less than 5 years—National Health Interview Survey, 2006–2010. 1. Adjusted odds ratio for age, sex, levels of education, health insurance status, BMI, smoking status, alcohol intake, physical activity and diabetes status.
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References

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