Cardiovascular risk factors in Mexico and the United States: a comparative cross-sectional study between the HABLE and MHAS participants

Introduction: In the United States, information on the Mexican-American population is available through the Health and Aging Brain among Latino Elders (HABLE) study; in Mexico, the results of the Mexican Health and Aging Study (MHAS) are available. Objective: To compare the prevalence of cardiovascular risk factors between men and women of the HABLE and MHAS studies. Method: The prevalence of hypertension, diabetes, hypercholesterolemia and abdominal obesity was transversely analyzed in 559 HABLE participants and compared with data from 13,663 MHAS participants. The comparison was made using Student's t-test and the chi-square test, according to the type of variable. Results: The analysis showed that the prevalence of hypertension (50 %, 95 % CI = 41.8-51.8), diabetes (35.5 %, 95 % CI = 27.6-43.8) and abdominal obesity (59.3 %, 95 % CI = 50.5-68.1) were significantly higher in HABLE males, whereas females had a higher prevalence of diabetes (36.8 %, 95 % CI = 32.2-41.5) and abdominal obesity (89.6 %, 95 % CI = 86.6-92.5). Hypercholesterolemia had a higher prevalence in MHAS females (53.3%, 95% CI = 50.3-56.2). Conclusion: The prevalence of cardiovascular risk factors was higher in Mexican American HABLE participants, than in Mexican MHAS participants.