Abstract
Background: In the United States, Hispanic females have the highest life expectancy, 87 years compared to 81years for white females, 78 years for African-American females and 81 years for Hispanic males. Other ethnic and gender discrepancies are a well addressed issue in cardiac outcomes, but almost nothing is known about the potential cofounders of this striking difference. In this study, we shed light on the variables that potentially relate to the underlying differences in cardiovascular health (CVH) using data from female employees of Baptist Health South Florida, a large nonprofit health care organization.
Methods: Female employees (7683) with complete data from an annual health fair and health risk assessment (HRA) for 2014 were included in this study. Mean age was 43 ±12 years. We compared results for 4235 Hispanic females (55.1%) to non-Hispanic females (44.9%) for 21 cardiovascular health (CVH) related characteristics, grouped into biometric measurements (12), knowledge (4) and attitudes (5). All variables were dichotomized and Fisher exact test was used to test for differences. Odds ratios are used to express importance of differences and spread of data.
Results: Hispanic females demonstrated significant advantage over non-Hispanic females in 10 of 12 CVH related measurements grouped into disease conditions and risk factors. Of note, Hispanic women were 62% more likely to have 5 or more CVH metrics. There was no difference in any of the 4 knowledge questions however, Hispanic females had healthier attitudes. They were significantly less inclined to want to increase their time of exercise, and they were also less likely to worry about their weight.
In summary, Hispanic females had better CVH related biometric and behavioral profiles in 15 of 21 variables compared to non-Hispanic females.
Conclusion: In this presumably healthy working population with equal access to health care and benefits, Hispanic females showed much better values of cardiac risk factors, accompanied with positive attitude toward life. Our findings point to potential pathways of longevity and improved CVH among Hispanic females.
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