The Role of Ethnicity in Developing Cardiovascular Disease in At-Risk Populations: 1457 Board #265 May 31 9

ORCID

Courtney Jensen: 0000-0001-9774-0694

Document Type

Conference Presentation

Department

Health, Exercise, and Sport Sciences Department

Conference Title

2018 ACSM National Conference

Organization

American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM)

Location

Minneapolis, MN

Conference Dates

May 29 - June 2, 2018

Date of Presentation

May 2018

Journal Publication

Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise

ISSN

1530-0315

DOI

10.1249/01.mss.0000536251.05538.15

Volume

50

Issue

5s

Publication Date

2018-05-01

Abstract

In the U.S., cardiovascular disease (CVD) is responsible for 1 in 4 deaths. There are known predictors (e.g., obesity, hypertension, and dyslipidemia) that increase the odds of developing CVD; however, risk is not proportionate among all ethnicities. While Hispanic Americans often display markers of elevated risk, they have longer life expectancies than their non-Hispanic counterparts. Further exploration of this phenomenon is necessary to elucidate how risk engenders disease in different ethnic groups. PURPOSE: To evaluate CVD risk factors and the incidence of adverse cardiovascular events among at-risk Hispanic and non-Hispanic adults. METHODS: We enrolled 10 Hispanic and 41 non-Hispanic men and women with Type 2 diabetes in a 10-week exercise program. Prior to initiating exercise, we documented demographic data, collected a health history, conducted 7 tests of physical functioning, and measured cardiometabolic variables, including body mass index (BMI), body fat percent (BF%), blood pressure, heart rate, and HBA1C. We repeated all assessments following the intervention. Differences between ethnic groups in baseline values and exercise responses were evaluated with independent- samples t-tests and chi-squared tests. RESULTS: Hispanic subjects had fewer diagnoses of hypertension (p=0.002) and no history of heart attack, compared to 25% incidence among non-Hispanics (p=0.077). Hispanic subjects were 8.1 years younger (p=0.032), 40% of them smoked (compared to 0%; p<0.001), and they had better body compositions as measured by BMI (p=0.038), BF% (p=0.021), and categorical obesity (p=0.030). Physical functioning was slightly better among Hispanic subjects as measured by the minute walk (p=0.010) and functional reach (p=0.029). Participants who completed the exercise program experienced improvement in all assessments but grip strength; there were no differences in improvement between ethnic groups. CONCLUSION: We found exercise to benefit Hispanic and non-Hispanic subjects similarly. Hispanic adults with diabetes had a lower incidence of heart attacks. This may be attributable to observed anthropometric differences; however, if nutritional or behavior customs confercardio- protective effects in this population, it is important for future researchers to identify those variables.

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