Cardiovascular risk factors in elderly Koreans in Australia and Korea

Koreans are a recent but relatively small ethnic minority group in Australia. This descriptive cross-sectional, comparative intercountry study examines the effect of Australian acculturation among elderly Koreans on cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors, compared with their counterparts in Korea. Fifty-one (72.4 ± 8.7 years) Australian Koreans (AK) and 48 (75.7 ± 6.9 years) Koreans (K) living in Seoul participated in the study. Diabetes was reported by 10.2% of AK and 17.4% of K and hypertension by 38.8 and 29.8% of AK and K, respectively. Significantly, more AK (85.7%) than K (53.2%) reported undertaking physical activity (P = 0.0005) and fewer AK were current smokers (6% vs 26.1%; P = 0.0077). After controlling for age, body mass index and waist-to-hip ratio no differences were found in lipid profiles between AK and K men or women. The effect of acculturation may be reflected among Australian Koreans by increased physical activity and reduced smoking levels and increased levels of abdominal obesity.