%0 Journal Article
%T Racial/Ethnic Variability in Hypertension Prevalence and Risk Factors in National Health Interview Survey
%A L. Holmes Jr.
%A J. Hossain
%A D. Ward
%A F. Opara
%J ISRN Hypertension
%D 2013
%R 10.5402/2013/257842
%X Objective. Hypertension is one of the leading causes of death attributed to cardiovascular diseases, and the prevalence varies across racial/ethnic groups, with African Americans being disproportionately affected. The underlying causes of these disparities are not fully understood despite volume of literature in this perspective. We aimed in this current study to examine ethnic/racial disparities in hypertension utilizing Hispanics as the base racial/ethnic group for comparison. Research Design and Methods. We utilized the National Health Interview Survey (NHIS), which is a large cross-sectional survey of the United States non-institutionalized residents to investigate the racial/ethnic disparities in hypertension after the adjustment of other socio-economic, demographic, and prognostic risk factors. The study participants were adults (n = 30,852). Data were analyzed using Chi square statistic, and logistic regression model. Results. There were statistically significant differences by race/ethnicity with respect to income, education, marital status, smoking, alcohol, physical activities, body mass index, and age, P < 0.01, but not insurance coverage, P > 0.01. Hispanic ethnicity (18.9%) compared to either non-Hispanic white (27.7%) or non-Hispanic black (35.5%) was associated with the lowest prevalence of hypertension. Race/ethnicity was a single independent predictor of hypertension, with non-Hispanic black more likely to be hypertensive compare with Hispanic, prevalence odds ratio (POR), 2.38, 99% Confidence Interval (CI), 2.17¨C2.61 and non-Hispanic white, POR, 1.64, 99% CI, 1.52¨C1.77. After controlling for the confounding variables, the racial/ethnic differences in hypertension persisted. Conclusions. Racial/ethnic disparities in hypertension persisted after controlling for potential predictors of hypertension in NHIS, implying the inability of known hypertension risk factors to account for racial/ethnic variability in hypertension in US. 1. Introduction Hypertension remains one of the leading causes of cardiovascular mortality in the United States population, affecting disproportionately non-Hispanic blacks [1¨C4]. The etiology of hypertension is multifactorial and incidence, prevalence and mortality vary by race/ethnicity [5¨C7]. A study has shown that the age-adjusted prevalence of hypertension by race, in the year 2003-2004, among the United States residents of age 20 years or older was 39.1% non-Hispanic Black, 28.5% non-Hispanic White, and 27.8% Hispanic, while age-unadjusted prevalence rate was 34.4%, 30.3%, and 16.9% for three racial groups,
%U http://www.hindawi.com/journals/isrn.hypertension/2013/257842/