CARDIOVASCULAR RISK IN ADULT MELBOURNE CHINESE

Chinese migrants have low cardiovascular mortality, particularly in th eir first 10 years of residence in Australia. The apparent increase in cardiovascular deaths among Asian migrants who have lived in Australi a for more than 10 years suggests that cardiovascular risk transition may occur soon after migration. In this descriptive study, we found th at Melbourne Chinese were not low in cardiovascular risk factors as us ually defined. The prevalence of hyperlipidaemia (7.7 per cent for men and 5.2 per cent for women) was similar to the prevalence for other A ustralians (6.8 per cent for men and 4.4 per cent for women). In spite of low mean blood pressure (systolic blood pressure 114+/-23 mmHg (me an+/-standard deviation) and diastolic blood pressure 67.3+/-10.6 mmHg ), Melbourne Chinese women were hypertensive as often as their Austral ian counterparts. The prevalence of cigarette smoking in men (26.9 per cent) was also comparable to prevalence for Australian males (24.1 pe r cent). Being slim is the only recognised cardiovascular protection t hat Melbourne Chinese may have. A high waist-to-hip ratio (0.91+/-0.05 4 for men and 0.88+/-0.077 for women), however, may outweigh the poten tial benefit of a lower prevalence of overweight (17.7 per cent for me n and 14.1 per cent for women). Melbourne Chinese men had a multiple r isk-factor profile similar to their Australian counterparts. Differenc es in multiple risk factors in women were attributable to fewer Chines e women having a single risk factor (15.4 per cent versus 30.1 per cen t). While cardiovascular mortality and risk-factor prevalence is decli ning in Australia, our study suggests that migrants such as Melbourne Chinese may not share the same health improvement.