Cardiovascular disease risk factors in Korean American elderly.

An in-depth cardiovascular risk factor assessment was carried out in a sample of 205 Korean American elderly in Maryland, consisting of 75 males and 130 females aged 60 to 89 years (mean age = 69.9 +/- 6.5 years). Six risk factors were assessed in each participant: high blood pressure, current smoking, high blood cholesterol, overweight, sedentary lifestyle, and diabetes. The findings of this cross-sectional study suggested that high blood pressure was the leading cardiovascular disease risk factor among Korean American elderly (71%), followed by high blood cholesterol (53%), overweight (43%), sedentary life style (24%), diabetes (18%), and smoking (7%). Two thirds of the sample had multiple cardiovascular disease risk factors. The pattern of prevalence and risk factors that was observed was consistent with the distribution of multiple risk factors in that the combination of high blood pressure, high blood cholesterol, and overweight was most common in Korean American elderly (62%). These findings indicate that culturally relevant and salient strategies are needed to reduce multiple risk factors in this population.