Differences in Traditional and Non-Traditional Cardiovascular Disease Risk Factors between Asian and Non-Hispanic White Young Adults

The objective of the present study was to investigate differences in traditional and non-traditional cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors between Asian and non-Hispanic White young adults. The burden of CVD varies by racial/ethnic group. Traditional risk factors that increase the likelihood of developing CVD include smoking, alcohol, physical inactivity, obesity, diabetes, high cholesterol, and high blood pressure. Suboptimal sleep is known to be a non-traditional risk factor for poor overall health, CVD risk factors, and CVD. The present study was an investigation of a cross-sectional, screening survey used for a larger community-based study on sleep and cardiovascular health. The unadjusted results examining differences in traditional CVD risk factors indicated that Asian participants were less likely to report alcohol use compared to non-Hispanic White participants. For non-traditional CVD risk factors, Asians were less likely to report experiencing sleep-related fatigue or malaise, attention impairment, daytime sleepiness, reduced motivation or energy, or concerns about their sleep compared to non-Hispanic White participants. Multivariate-analyses were conducted adjusting for sex and age. The adjusted results indicated that the Asian participants were less likely to report alcohol consumption, regular engagement in exercise, engagement in hard intensity exercise, concerns with sleep quality, and sleep difficulty-related fatigue, attention impairment, daytime sleepiness, reduced motivation, and were more likely to be obese compared to non-Hispanic White participants. The results may help guide cardiovascular prevention education provided to these groups. The data indicate the need for further longitudinal research studies on non-traditional CVD risk factors like sleep by ethnicity/race.