- Overall, Asian American adults are less likely than white adults to have heart disease and they are less likely to die from heart disease.
- In general, Asian American adults have lower rates of being overweight or obese, lower rates of hypertension, and they are less likely to be current cigarette smokers.
- Asian Americans are 50 percent less likely to die from heart disease than non-Hispanic whites.
- Asian American men are four times more likely to smoke cigarettes as compared to Asian American women.
Diagnosed Cases of Coronary Heart Disease:
| Age-adjusted percentage of coronary heart disease among persons 18 years of age and over, 2018 | ||
| Asian | Non-Hispanic White | Asian / Non-Hispanic White Ratio |
| 4.4 | 5.8 | 0.7 |
Source: CDC 2021. Summary Health Statistics: National Health Interview Survey: 2018. Table A-1a.
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nhis/shs/tables.htm
Death Rate:
| Age-adjusted heart disease death rates per 100,000 (2018) | |||
| Non-Hispanic Asian | Non-Hispanic White | Non-Hispanic Asian / Non-Hispanic White Ratio | |
| Men | 106.0 | 213.1 | 0.5 |
| Women | 63.5 | 130.7 | 0.5 |
| Total | 82.0 | 168.1 | 0.5 |
Source: CDC 2021. National Vital Statistics Report, Vol. 69, No. 13. Table 10.
https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr69/nvsr69-13-508.pdf [PDF | 2.05MB]
Risk Factors:
There are several risk factors related to heart disease. Some of these risk factors are:
Obesity and Overweight
– See Obesity and Asian AmericansHypertension
| Age-adjusted percentage of persons 20 years of age and over who have high blood pressure, 2013-2016 | |||
| Asian | Non-Hispanic White | Asian / Non-Hispanic White Ratio | |
| Men | 30.2 | 31.1 | 1.0 |
| Women | 24.4 | 27.0 | 0.9 |
| Total | 27.0 | 29.2 | 0.9 |
Source: CDC 2019. Health United States, 2018. Table 22.
https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/hus/hus18.pdf [PDF | 1.56MB]
| Age-adjusted percentage of persons 18 years of age and over who have high blood pressure, 2018 | ||
| Asian | Non-Hispanic White | Asian / Non-Hispanic White Ratio |
| 21.9 | 24.0 | 0.9 |
Source: CDC 2021. Summary Health Statistics: National Health Interview Survey: 2018. Table A-1a.
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nhis/shs/tables.htm
| Percentage of adults aged 18 and over with hypertension whose blood pressure is under control, 2015-2016 | |||
| Non-Hispanic Asian | Non-Hispanic White | Non-Hispanic Asian / Non-Hispanic White Ratio | |
| Men | 34.9 | 47.7 | 0.7 |
| Women | 39.7 | 48.5 | 0.8 |
| Total | 37.4 | 50.8 | 0.7 |
Source: CDC: 2017. Hypertension Prevalence and Control Among Adults: United States, 2015–2016. NCHS Data Brief, No. 289. Figure 4.
https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/databriefs/db289.pdf [PDF | 361 KB]
High Cholesterol
| Age-adjusted percentage of persons 20 years of age and over who have high cholesterol, 2013-2016 | |||
| Non-Hispanic Asian | Non-Hispanic White | Non-Hispanic Asian / Non-Hispanic White Ratio | |
| Men | 26.0 | 33.6 | 0.7 |
| Women | 23.5 | 31.6 | 0.7 |
| Total | 24.7 | 32.7 | 0.8 |
Source: CDC 2019. Health United States, 2018. Table 23.
https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/hus/hus18.pdf [PDF | 1.56MB]
| Percentage of adults who received a blood cholesterol measurement in the last 5 years, 2017 | ||
| Asian | Non-Hispanic White | Asian / Non-Hispanic White Ratio |
| 91.0 | 87.3 | 1.0 |
Source: AHRQ 2021. National Healthcare Quality and Disparities Reports. Data Query. Table 7 _5_ 1_ 4_2.1.
http://nhqrnet.ahrq.gov/inhqrdr/data/query
Cigarette Smoking
| Age-adjusted percentage of persons 18 years of age and over who are current cigarette smokers, 2018 | ||
| Asian | Non-Hispanic White | Asian / Non-Hispanic White Ratio |
| 6.8 | 15.5 | 0.4 |
Source: CDC 2021. Summary Health Statistics: National Health Interview Survey: 2018. Table A-12a.
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nhis/shs/tables.htm
| Current cigarette smoking among adults aged 18 and over, 2015-2017 | |||
| Asian | Non-Hispanic White | Asian / Non-Hispanic White Ratio | |
| Men | 12.3 | 17.8 | 0.7 |
| Women | 4.0 | 16.0 | 0.25 |
Source: CDC 2019. Health United States, 2018. Table 19.
https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/hus/hus18.pdf [PDF | 1.56MB]
| Percentage of current smokers age 18 and over with a checkup who reported receiving advice to quit smoking, 2017 | ||
| Asian | Non-Hispanic White | Asian / Non-Hispanic White Ratio |
| -- | 67.9 | -- |
Source: AHRQ 2020. National Healthcare Quality Report. Table 7_2_1_1_1_.1.
http://nhqrnet.ahrq.gov/inhqrdr/data/query
| Percentage of current smokers age 18 and over with a checkup who reported receiving advice to quit smoking, 2015 | ||
| Asian | Non-Hispanic White | Asian / Non-Hispanic White Ratio |
| 34.2 | 60.2 | 0.6 |
Source: CDC 2017. Quitting Smoking Among Adults — United States, 2000–2015. Table 2.
https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/65/wr/pdfs/mm6552a1.pdf[PDF | 194 KB]
Last Edited: 02/11/2021