Correlations between Health Insurance Status and Risk Factors for Cardiovascular Disease in the Elderly Asian American Population

Abstract

Background Asian Americans are often seen as a model minority; however, the group faces significant cultural, language, and financial barriers to adequate health care access. Assessing health insurance’s impact on cardiovascular disease risk factors among older Asian Americans may provide support for further research and intervention development focused on improving insurance enrollment. The authors sought to examine the associations between elevated blood pressure and body mass index and insurance coverage.MethodsIndividuals attended health fairs held by a student-led organization in Southern California between 2008 and 2011. Age and insurance status were obtained through participant questionnaires. Participants’ blood pressure and body mass index were measured. Analyses identified health and insurance associations.ResultsIn total, 53.8% of respondents were 60 years or older. Of these, 30.9% had an elevated blood pressure and 36.6% had an elevated body mass index. Of respondents 60 years or older, 52.0% had health insurance. Both elevated blood pressure (p = 0.04) and body mass index (p = 0.03) were significantly associated with lacking insurance.ConclusionsInsured participants were less likely to have elevated blood pressure and body mass index measurements, supporting a positive correlation between having insurance and less risk factors for cardiovascular disease. These findings provide incentives for further research into the importance of health insurance in preventative health care.

Outcomes of a novel pharmacy screening intervention to address the burden of type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease in an Arabic‐speaking country

“…Our findings showed that participants without health insurance coverage had a greater potential for benefit from the intervention owing to increased baseline levels of risk. This finding accords with other studies which found that insured individuals were less likely to have elevated blood pressure and BMI, 28 while the proportion of those who obtained treatment and achieved control of their risk factors was lower among the uninsured 29 . A key dilemma when introducing screening and other health service innovations to reduce the chronic disease burden, as outlined in the Inverse Care Law is that such innovations are accessed disproportionately by socially advantaged and lower risk individuals, thereby exacerbating health inequalities despite reducing the overall population burden of disease.…”

Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Hypertension: Barriers and Opportunities to Improve Blood Pressure Control

“…Importantly, higher rates of inadequate or non-existent insurance coverage were disproportionately identified among racial and ethnic minorities, with an uninsured prevalence of 26.5% among Hispanic adults, 15% among NH Black adults, and 9% among NH White adults [ 18 ]. A recent analysis of 1600 Asian Americans living in Southern California who self-reported lack of insurance also experienced elevated BP [ 20 ]. Unfortunately, even when people have physical access to care, their ability to utilize it may be limited by language barriers.…”

Machine Learning for Integrating Social Determinants in Cardiovascular Disease Prediction Models: A Systematic Review

“…These cardiovascular diseases cause the highest mortality, and estimated years of lives lost attributed to these conditions have increased in recent years. 1,2,30 For each of the key areas of social determinants and included variables, machine learning and CVD, we identified keywords by referencing previous review papers on social determinants and cardiovascular diseases, 11,31 related studies of different social determinants [31][32][33][34][35] or consulting experts to include relevant concepts. Full search strategies are provided in the appendix.…”