With the steady increase of non-European, non-English speaking immigrants to the United States, the relationship between acculturation and risk for @entity65 ( @entity65 ) is an issue of growing importance to researchers interested in the health of new immigrant populations. The influence of acculturation processes on adverse changes in blood pressure (BP), a major risk factor for @entity65 , has been examined in Hispanic-Americans and Asian-Americans. Published studies on this relationship in Arab-Americans are lacking, however, despite their growing numbers. With a specific focus on Chaldean-Americans, a major subgroup of the large Arab-American population located in metropolitan Detroit, Michigan, the current study investigates the influence of level of acculturation on BP in a community probability sample of 130 Chaldean-American @entity1 . Study @entity1 were interviewed in their homes (92% response rate). Physical measurements included BP, body mass index (BMI), and waist-hip ratio. Demographic and acculturation data were obtained through a standardized questionnaire. The crude @entity101 prevalence in the sample was 16%. Three dimensions of acculturation were identified through content and factor analysis: English language preference, parental school involvement, and ethnic identity. In unadjusted analyses, both English language preference and Chaldean-American ethnic identity were associated (p < 0.01) with lower mean BP, but these differences became nonsignificant when age, BMI, and waist-hip ratio were statistically controlled. Parental school involvement was not associated with BP in any analyses. In this study, the strongest predictors of BP were BMI and waist-hip ratio, both of which were inversely correlated with age, education, English language preference, employment outside the home, and parental school involvement. Future studies of acculturation and BP in Chaldean-Americans (and other Arab-American populations) should use improved measures of acculturation, broader assessments of behavioral and socioeconomic status, and larger samples that includes both genders.

Acculturation and blood pressure in a community-based sample of Chaldean-American XXXX .

@entity1 :: ('9606', 'Species') :: ['participants', 'women'] @entity101 :: ('MESH:D006973', 'Disease') :: ['hypertension'] @entity65 :: ('MESH:D002318', 'Disease') :: ['CVD', 'cardiovascular disease']
@entity1 :: (9606,Species) :: ['women']
