Published Online
on September 6, 2005

A more recent version of this article appeared on September 13, 2005

This Article Full Text (PDF) All Versions of this Article: 112/11/1557    most recent CIRCULATIONAHA.104.530147v1 Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Request Permissions Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Diez Roux, A. V. Articles by Szklo, M. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Diez Roux, A. V. Articles by Szklo, M. Pubmed/NCBI databases Medline Plus Health Information Coronary Artery Disease Related Collections Risk Factors Computerized tomography and Magnetic Resonance Imaging Epidemiology

Submitted on December 16, 2004
Revised on May 31, 2005
Accepted on June 6, 2005

Acculturation and Socioeconomic Position as Predictors of Coronary Calcification in a Multiethnic Sample

Ana V. Diez Roux MD, PhD^*, Robert Detrano MD, PhD, Sharon Jackson PhD, David R. Jacobs Jr PhD, Pamela J. Schreiner PhD, Steven Shea MD, and Moyses Szklo MD, DrPh

From the Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor (A.V.D.R.); Department of Medicine, Los Angeles Biomedical Research Institute at Harbor UCLA Medical Center, Los Angeles (R.D.); Department of Public Health Sciences, Wake Forest University School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, NC (S.J.); Division of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, University of Minnesota, St Paul-Minneapolis (D.R.J., P.J.S.); Department of Nutrition, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway (D.R.J.); Departments of Medicine and Epidemiology, Columbia University, New York, NY (S.S.); and Department of Epidemiology, Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Md (M.S.).

^* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: adiezrou{at}umich.edu.

Background--Coronary calcium has recently emerged as a marker of subclinical coronary heart disease. Although there has been much interest in race differences in calcification, heterogeneity within race or ethnic groups has not been investigated.

Methods and Results--Data from the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA), a population-based study of coronary calcification, were used to investigate acculturation and socioeconomic position as predictors of coronary calcification within 2553 non-Hispanic whites, 1734 non-Hispanic blacks, 1457 Hispanics, and 797 Chinese residing in the United States. Coronary calcium was assessed by chest CT. Relative risk regression and linear regression were used to estimate adjusted associations of sociodemographic variables with the presence and amount of calcium. Not being born in the United States was associated with a lower prevalence of calcification in blacks (relative prevalence [RP], 0.75; 95% confidence limit [CL], 0.61 to 0.94) and Hispanics (RP, 0.89; 95% CL, 0.81 to 0.98) after adjustment for age, sex, income, and education. Years in the United States was positively associated with prevalence of calcification in non-US-born Chinese (adjusted RP per 10 years in United States, 1.06; 95% CL, 1.01 to 1.11) and non-US-born blacks (RP, 1.59; 95% CL, 1.22 to 2.06). Low education was associated with a higher prevalence of calcification in whites (adjusted RP for no high school versus complete college, 1.17; 95% CL, 1.05 to 1.32) but with lower prevalence of calcification in Hispanics (RP, 0.91; 95% CL, 0.77 to 1.09) (P for interaction=0.02). US birth and time in the United States were also positively associated with the extent of calcification in persons with detectable calcium. These differences did not appear to be accounted for by smoking, body mass index, LDL and HDL cholesterol, hypertension, and diabetes.

Conclusions--Acculturation and socioeconomic factors are associated with differences in the prevalence and amount of coronary calcification within whites, Chinese, blacks, and Hispanics. The presence of this heterogeneity needs to be acknowledged in the quantification and investigation of race/ethnic differences.

Key words: atherosclerosis • calcium • epidemiology • population groups • risk factors

This article has been cited by other articles:

				K. Kroger, N. Dragano, A. Stang, S. Moebus, S. Mohlenkamp, K. Mann, J. Siegrist, K.-H. Jockel, R. Erbel, and on behalf of the Heinz Nixdorf Recall Study Invest An unequal social distribution of peripheral arterial disease and the possible explanations: results from a population-based study Vascular Medicine, November 1, 2009; 14(4): 289 - 296. [Abstract] [PDF]

				L. C. Gallo, K. E. de los Monteros, M. Allison, A. D. Roux, J. F. Polak, K. E. Watson, and L. S. Morales Do Socioeconomic Gradients in Subclinical Atherosclerosis Vary According to Acculturation Level? Analyses of Mexican-Americans in the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis Psychosom Med, September 1, 2009; 71(7): 756 - 762. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				P. L. Lutsey, A. V. Diez Roux, D. R. Jacobs Jr, G. L. Burke, J. Harman, S. Shea, and A. R. Folsom Associations of Acculturation and Socioeconomic Status With Subclinical Cardiovascular Disease in the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis Am J Public Health, November 1, 2008; 98(11): 1963 - 1970. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				A. Sekikawa, J. D. Curb, H. Ueshima, A. El-Saed, T. Kadowaki, R. D. Abbott, R. W. Evans, B. L. Rodriguez, T. Okamura, K. Sutton-Tyrrell, et al. Marine-Derived n-3 Fatty Acids and Atherosclerosis in Japanese, Japanese-American, and White Men: A Cross-Sectional Study J. Am. Coll. Cardiol., August 5, 2008; 52(6): 417 - 424. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				A J Schulz, J S House, B A Israel, G Mentz, J T Dvonch, P Y Miranda, S Kannan, and M Koch Relational pathways between socioeconomic position and cardiovascular risk in a multiethnic urban sample: complexities and their implications for improving health in economically disadvantaged populations J Epidemiol Community Health, July 1, 2008; 62(7): 638 - 646. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				R. D. Abbott, H. Ueshima, B. L. Rodriguez, T. Kadowaki, K. H. Masaki, B. J. Willcox, A. Sekikawa, L. H. Kuller, D. Edmundowicz, C. Shin, et al. Coronary Artery Calcification in Japanese Men in Japan and Hawaii Am. J. Epidemiol., December 1, 2007; 166(11): 1280 - 1287. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				D. T. Takeuchi, N. Zane, S. Hong, D. H. Chae, F. Gong, G. C. Gee, E. Walton, S. Sue, and M. Alegria Immigration-Related Factors and Mental Disorders Among Asian Americans Am J Public Health, January 1, 2007; 97(1): 84 - 90. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				T. T. Lewis, S. A. Everson-Rose, L. H. Powell, K. A. Matthews, C. Brown, K. Karavolos, K. Sutton-Tyrrell, E. Jacobs, and D. Wesley Chronic Exposure to Everyday Discrimination and Coronary Artery Calcification in African-American Women: The SWAN Heart Study Psychosom Med, May 1, 2006; 68(3): 362 - 368. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]