Highlights
- •South Asian (SA) individuals represent a large, growing population in a number of European countries.
- •SAs living in Europe are at increased risk of developing diabetes, atherogenic dyslipidaemia, and coronary heart disease.
- •SA-specific cardiovascular health promotion and preventive interventions are currently scarce in most European countries.
- •In this review, we aim to increase awareness within Europe of the public health importance of cardiovascular disease in SAs.
- •We discuss potential opportunities for multi-level, targeted, tailored cardiovascular prevention strategies.
Abstract
South Asian (SA) individuals represent a large, growing population in a number of
European countries. These individuals, particularly first-generation SA immigrants,
are at higher risk of developing type 2 diabetes, atherogenic dyslipidaemia, and coronary
heart disease than most other racial/ethnic groups living in Europe. SAs also have
an increased risk of stroke compared to European-born individuals. Despite a large
body of conclusive evidence, SA-specific cardiovascular health promotion and preventive
interventions are currently scarce in most European countries, as well as at the European
Union level. In this narrative review, we aim to increase awareness among clinicians
and healthcare authorities of the public health importance of cardiovascular disease
among SAs living in Europe, as well as the need for tailored interventions targeting
this group – particularly, in countries where SA immigration is a recent phenomenon.
To this purpose, we review key studies on the epidemiology and risk factors of cardiovascular
disease in SAs living in the United Kingdom, Italy, Spain, Denmark, Norway, Sweden,
and other European countries. Building on these, we discuss potential opportunities
for multi-level, targeted, tailored cardiovascular prevention strategies. Because
lifestyle interventions often face important cultural barriers in SAs, particularly
for first-generation immigrants; we also discuss features that may help maximise the
effectiveness of those interventions. Finally, we evaluate knowledge gaps, currently
available risk stratification tools such as QRISK-3, and future directions in this
important field.
Graphical abstract
Graphical Abstract
Keywords
Abbreviations:
AMI (acute myocardial infarction), CHD (coronary heart disease), ESC (European Society of Cardiology), NICE (National Institute for Health and Care Excellence), PURE (Prospective Urban Rural Epidemiology), SA (South Asian), SCORE (Systematic Coronary Risk Evaluation)To read this article in full you will need to make a payment
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Article Info
Publication History
Published online: May 16, 2019
Accepted:
May 15,
2019
Received in revised form:
May 9,
2019
Received:
March 5,
2019
Identification
Copyright
© 2019 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
