Major risk factors for cardiovascular disease in elderly migrants in Sweden

Objective. The knowledge of elderly migrants' health, particularly those wh o are retired or in transition to retirement is limited. The purpose of thi s study was to analyse the association between migration, socio-economic st atus (SES), and risk factors for cardiovascular disease (CVD). Design. A simple random sample of 253 foreign-born persons and 2847 Swedish -born persons aged 55-74 were drawn from the Swedish Population Registry. T hey were interviewed by Statistics Sweden in 1988-89. Outcome variables wer e leisure-time physical inactivity, smoker/non-smoker status, body mass ind ex (BMI), hypertension, and diabetes mellitus. Explanatory variables were s ex, age, marital status, migration status (country of birth), and SES (inco me). Logistic and linear regression were used. Results. Elderly foreign-born people ran an increased risk of engaging in n o physical activity (men only), being a current smoker, and having an incre ased BMI after adjustment for background factors. In addition, a low income (first tertile) was an independent risk factor for physical inactivity (me n only), as was being a current smoker (men only), BMI, hypertension, and d iabetes mellitus. Thus, the burden of being an elderly migrant increases th e risk of a disadvantaged lifestyle between 50 and 80% compared with Swedes . Conclusions. This study shows that migrants who are retired or in transitio n to retirement have a disadvantaged risk profile for cardiovascular diseas e. It might be possible to improve this situation by intervention, as for e xample by increasing a person's interest in walking.