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The Afro-Cardiac Study: Cardiovascular Disease Risk and Acculturation in West African Immigrants in the United States: Rationale and Study Design

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Abstract

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) remains the leading cause of death in the United States (US). African-descent populations bear a disproportionate burden of CVD risk factors. With the increase in the number of West African immigrants (WAIs) to the US over the past decades, it is imperative to specifically study this new and substantial subset of the African-descent population and how acculturation impacts their CVD risk. The Afro-Cardiac study, a community-based cross-sectional study of adult WAIs in the Baltimore–Washington metropolis. Guided by the PRECEDE–PROCEED model, we used a modification of the World Health Organization Steps survey to collect data on demographics, socioeconomic status, migration-related factors and behaviors. We obtained physical, biochemical, acculturation measurements as well as a socio-demographic and health history. Our study provides critical data on the CVD risk of WAIs. The framework used is valuable for future epidemiological studies addressing CVD risk and acculturation among immigrants.

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Acknowledgments

This study was supported by pilot funding from National Institute of Nursing Research (NINR) [1P30NR011409]. We would like to acknowledge all the research assistants (Felicia Sam, Grace Onayiga, Kojo Amoakwah, Audrey Addaquay-Corey, Selase Agudu-Morgan, Loretta Odro and Jonathan Aboagye) who participated in data collection as well as the leaders of the community-based organized organizations that allowed data collection to occur on their premises. Finally, we thank the study participants who dedicated their time to advance our understanding of CVD risk among WAIs.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing, Emory University, 1520 Clifton Road NE, Rm 368, Atlanta, GA, 30322-4027, USA

    Yvonne Commodore-Mensah

  2. Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, 733 N. Broadway, Baltimore, MD, 21205, USA

    Maame Sampah & Nancy Abu-Bonsrah

  3. Department of Internal Medicine, St. Agnes Hospital, 900 S Caton Ave, Baltimore, MD, 21229, USA

    Charles Berko

  4. Johns Hopkins School of Nursing, 525 N. Wolfe Street, Baltimore, MD, 21205, USA

    Joycelyn Cudjoe & Cheryl Dennison Himmelfarb

  5. A.T Still University, 800 W. Jefferson Street, Kirksville, MO, 63501, USA

    Olawunmi Obisesan

  6. Amsterdam Medical Centre, University of Amsterdam, Meibergdreef 9, 1105 AZ, Amsterdam, Netherlands

    Charles Agyemang

  7. Center for Research on Genomics and Global Health, National Human Genome Research Institute, Building 12A, Room 4047, 12 South Drive, MSC 5635, Bethesda, MD, USA

    Adebowale Adeyemo

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  1. Yvonne Commodore-Mensah
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Correspondence to Yvonne Commodore-Mensah.

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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest to disclose.

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The Johns Hopkins Medicine Institutional Review Board provided ethics approval.

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All subjects provided written informed consent before being enrolled in the study.

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Commodore-Mensah, Y., Sampah, M., Berko, C. et al. The Afro-Cardiac Study: Cardiovascular Disease Risk and Acculturation in West African Immigrants in the United States: Rationale and Study Design. J Immigrant Minority Health 18, 1301–1308 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10903-015-0291-0

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