Self-reported heart disease among Arab and Chaldean American women residing in southeast Michigan.

OBJECTIVES This study estimates the prevalence of heart disease among Arab and Chaldean American women and examines the association between Arab and Chaldean ethnicity and heart disease among a sample of women. METHODS This was a cross-sectional study of a convenience sample of 2084 Arab, Chaldean, and African American women aged > or = 18 years who completed a survey that was distributed at churches, mosques, and small businesses in southeast Michigans. Logistic regression was used to estimate odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals for the association between ethnicity and self-reported heart disease before and after adjusting for demographic, socioeconomic status, health care, chronic conditions, and health behavior variables. PARTICIPANTS A sample of 2084 Arab, Chaldean, and African American women 18 years of age and older. RESULTS The overall prevalence of heart disease was 5.1%. Estimates were higher for Arabs (7.1%), lower for Chaldeans (6.6%), and lowest among African Americans (1.8%). In the unadjusted model, Chaldeans and Arabs were four times more likely to have heart disease than were African Americans. However, in the fully adjusted model, the association between Chaldean or Arab ethnicity and heart disease was no longer statistically significant. CONCLUSIONS Arab or Chaldean ethnicity was not significantly associated with self-reported heart disease among women, which suggests that other factors account for this relationship. Future studies should collect more detailed socioeconomic status, acculturation, and health behavior information.