Psychosocial risk factors for coronary heart disease in UK South Asian men and women

Assessment of physical activity levels in South Asians in the UK: findings from the Health Survey for England

“…Pakistanis and Bangladeshis report greater use of tobacco products,8 consume fewer fruits and vegetables,30 and report more psychological distress and lower social support 31 than Indians. Cumulatively, this evidence highlights the non-uniform risk of CHD across subgroups, corroborating the observation that Pakistanis and Bangladeshis suffer increased rates of CHD and diabetes 26 32…”

“…Even after adjustment for socioeconomic variations, South Asians still performed less physical activity. This is an interesting result, since physical activity has a socioeconomic gradient25 and ethnic minorities in the UK consistently occupy the lower social grades26 (subject to subgroup variations27). …”

Prevalence of coronary artery calcium scores and silent myocardial ischaemia was similar in Indian Asians and European whites in a cross-sectional study of asymptomatic subjects from a UK population (LOLIPOP-IPC)

“…50 In addition to these biological factors, IA have also been shown to demonstrate high levels of psychosocial stress, as well as experiencing greater chronic stress, compared with EW. 51 Psychosocial stress has been shown to further stimulate the activation of the sympathetic nervous system, cause endothelial dysfunction and release of proinflammatory cytokines and prothrombotic responses which in turn promote atherogenesis. 52 Furthermore, stress has also been found to be correlated to CAC, 53 and to silent myocardial ischaemia, further lending strength to the argument.…”

Subgroup differences in psychosocial factors relating to coronary heart disease in the UK South Asian population

“…Accordingly, we compared psychosocial and behavioral factors that have been associated with CHD risk in a community sample of Sikh, Muslim, and Hindu people living in West London. We have previously shown that, compared with white Europeans, UK South Asians living in West London experience greater psychosocial adversity, in terms of financial strain, residential crowding, family conflict, social deprivation, and discrimination, while at the same time having lower social support and greater depression and hostility [20]. These differences were largely independent of socioeconomic position (SEP) as defined by household income.…”