Sept. 16, 2024 — Numerous social and structural factors, including immigration status, socioeconomic position and access to health care, contribute to differences in cardiovascular health and heart disease risk for Asian Americans, and these factors affect Asian ethnic subgroups in different ways, according to a new scientific statement published today in the American Heart Association’s journal, Circulation.

This AHA scientific statement, “Social Determinants of Cardiovascular Health in Asian Americans,” highlights the evidence for the role of social determinants of health in cardiovascular health among Asian American adults and identifies future directions for research to advance health equity for the Asian American population and reduce health disparities in these communities.

Asian Americans remain persistently underrepresented as participants in medical research. Previous studies have found that Asian Americans are less willing to participate in health research compared to other racial/ethnic groups. Research conducted exclusively in English may also result in underrepresentation of Asian American individuals with lower English proficiency from different Asian ethnic subgroups.

Social determinants, such as immigration-related factors, discrimination, socioeconomic status, English proficiency and cultural beliefs, may influence health behaviors, access to health care and the ability to follow medical recommendations among Asian Americans.

More research is needed to better understand the specific cardiovascular health needs in individual Asian ethnic groups, identify the underlying reasons why Asian Americans experience differences in quality of cardiovascular care compared with other racial and ethnic populations and reduce disparities in these communities.

The scientific statement was prepared by the volunteer writing group on behalf of the American Heart Association’s Prevention Science Committee of the Council on Epidemiology and Prevention and the Council on Cardiovascular and Stroke Nursing; the Council on Hypertension; the Council on Lifestyle and Cardiometabolic Health; the Council on Basic Cardiovascular Sciences; the Council on Clinical Cardiology; the Council on Peripheral Vascular Disease; and the Council on Quality of Care and Outcomes Research.

To access the entire AHA/ACC Scientific Statement please visitKey Data Elements and Definitions of Social Determinants of Health in Cardiology (Aug. 2024).