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Background:Racial/ethnic minorities in the United States (U.S.), including persons of African descent, are disproportionately affected by cardiovascular diseases (CVD). Discrimination is associated with higher CVD Risk among U.S. adults; however, the relationship between discrimination and CVD risk among African immigrants is unknown.Hypothesis:We hypothesized that immigrants who reported higher discrimination would have higher CVD risk.Methods:The African Immigrant Health Study was cross-sectional study of African immigrants in Baltimore-Washington, D.C. The main outcome of interest was high CVD risk, defined as the presence of ?3 CVD risk factors including hypertension, diabetes, high cholesterol, overweight/obesity, tobacco use, and poor diet. The secondary outcomes were the 6 CVD risk factors examined individually. The exposure was discrimination measured with the Everyday Discrimination Scale; the sum of scores >2 on each item indicated frequent experiences of discrimination. Logistic regression was used to examine the odds of high CVD risk, adjusting for relevant covariates.Results:We included 395 participants; 60% were females. The mean(?SD) age was 48(?11) years, 61% had ? bachelor?s degree, 19% had an income <$40,000, and 47% had lived in the US ?15 years. Persons with frequent experiences of discrimination were 1.82 times (95%CI: 1.04-3.21) more likely to have high CVD risk than those with fewer experiences of discrimination. The unadjusted and adjusted results are presented in the Table.Conclusion:Persons with frequent experiences of discrimination were more likely to have increased CVD risk. Targeted, culturally appropriate interventions to help decrease CVD risk in this population are needed.

Introduction:Depression and perceived stress are associated with poor cardiovascular health (CVH). Blacks in the United States (U.S.) are a diverse group, yet research examining psychological risk factors for suboptimal CVH among African immigrants, a growing sub-population of Blacks, is scarce.Hypothesis:We hypothesized that greater severity of depression symptom and perceived stress will be associated with poorer CVH. We also hypothesized that acculturation (length of stay (LOS) and acculturation strategy would moderate the relationship between depression symptom severity, perceived stress, and CVH.Methods:Study participants were born in Ghana, Nigeria, Liberia, Sierra Leone and Cameroon. The exposure variables were depressive symptoms and perceived stress. The outcome was CVH, defined as meeting AHA criteria for poor, intermediate, or ideal health on the following health and behavioral characteristics: body mass index, blood pressure, dietary habits, tobacco use, self-reported diabetes and hyperlipidemia diagnosis. The moderator variables were length of stay (LOS), dichotomized as <10 or ?10 years and Acculturation Strategy (Marginalist, Integrationists, and Traditionalist). Ordinal logistic regression was used to examine the association between depression severity, perceived stress, and CVH adjusting for age, sex, income, health insurance status, marital status, and education.Results:We include 395 African immigrants with mean age (?SD) of 47.8 (?11.5) years. Females made up approximately 60% of the sample. Overall, 9.5% of study participants met criteria for moderate-to-severe depressive symptoms and 12.7% met the ideal CVH criteria. Persons with moderate-to-severe depressive symptoms were 2.40 (95%CI: 1.0-5.7) times more likely to have poor CVH compared to those with no-to-minimal depressive symptoms in the adjusted analyses. Neither length of stay nor acculturation strategy moderated the relationship between depression symptom severity and CVH.Conclusion:We observed a positive association between depression severity and CVH in this sample. Culturally appropriate behavioral health interventions are needed to address depression and co-morbid poor CVH among African immigrants.