Skip to main content

Acute coronary syndrome in immigrants and non-immigrants

Results of an Austrian prospective pilot study

Wiener klinische Wochenschrift volume 129, pages 900–905 (2017)Cite this article

Summary

Background

There are indications that immigrant patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS) differ in demographic characteristics and clinical presentation from non-immigrant patients. The aim of this prospective pilot study was to gather clinical and sociodemographic data from patients with ACS and to compare immigrants with non-immigrants.

Methods

Included were consecutive patients who underwent acute coronary angiography in one cardiological department for ACS from September 2011 to September 2013. Information was gathered about age, sex, results of the coronary angiography, classical risk factors, socioeconomic characteristics as well as ethnicity. Patients who had their place of birth outside Austria were specified as immigrants.

Results

A total of 100 patients (29% female) with a mean age of 60 years (range 34–91 years) were included. Of the patients 35 (35%) were immigrants, 12 came from Serbia, 4 from Bosnia, 3 from South America, 2 from Germany, 2 from Turkey, 2 from the Czech Republic, 2 from Croatia, 2 from Macedonia, and 1 each from Bangladesh, Poland, Romania, Libya, Bulgaria and Pakistan. Immigrants tended to be younger on average (56 vs. 62 years, p = 0.04) and had a two or multivessel disease more often than the non-immigrants but this difference was not significant (51% vs. 38%, p = 0.29). There were no differences between non-immigrants and immigrants concerning the classical risk factors for ACS (hypercholesterinemia 60% vs. 69%, nicotine abuse 51% vs. 60%, hypertension 69% vs. 79%) except diabetes mellitus (15% vs. 37%, p = 0.02). Sociodemographic data showed differences in education and socioeconomic status (SES). Non-immigrants had jobs with high skill level more often than immigrants (30% vs. 4%, p = 0.02), although there was no difference between immigrants and non-immigrants in the level of high education (9% each); however, immigrants more often had low education (31% vs. 11%, p = 0.01) and a monthly income below 1000 € than non-immigrants (41% vs. 14%, p = 0.03).

Conclusions

Immigrants with ACS suffered more often from coronary two or multivessel disease and diabetes mellitus and were slightly younger than non-immigrants, although they did not differ regarding classical risk factors. Results suggest that the lower SES of immigrants compared with non-immigrants might contribute to the severity of coronary heart disease.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution.

Access options

Buy single article

Instant access to the full article PDF.

43,34 €

Price includes VAT (Finland)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

References

  1. Burkert NT, Freidl W, Muckenhuber J, Großschädl F, Stronegger WJ, Rásky E. Social status as a mediator of self-perceived health, quality of life and health-related behaviour in obesity. Gesundheitswesen. 2013;75:e101–e7.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  2. Razum O, Zeeb H, Gergardus A. Cardiovascular mortality of Turkish nationals residing in west Germany. Ann Epidemiol. 1998;8(5):334–41.

    CAS  Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  3. Gadd M, Johansson SE, Sundquist J, Wändell P. Morbidity in cardiovascular diseases in immigrants in Sweden. J Intern Med. 2003;254(3):236–43.

    CAS  Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  4. Hempler NF, Larsen FB, Nielsen SS, Diderichsen F, Andreasen AH, Jørgensen T. A registry-based follow-up study, comparing the incidence of cardiovascular disease in native Danes and immigrants born in Turkey, Pakistan and the former Yugoslavia: do social inequalities play a role? BMC Public Health. 2011;11:662. https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2458-11-662.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  5. Ucar-Altenberger H, Stöllberger C, Avanzini M, Winkler WB, Wegner C, Weidinger F. Akute Koronarsyndrome bei Migranten: Risikoprofil und angiographische Befunde. J Kardiol. 2011;18:141–220.

    Google Scholar 

  6. Dörler J, Alber HF, Altenberger J, et al. Primary percutaneous intervention of ST-elevation myocardial infarction in Austria: results from the Austrian acute PCI registry 2005–2007. Wien Klin Wochenschr. 2010;122(7–8):220–8. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00508-010-1352-y.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  7. UNESCO Institute for Statistics. International Standard Classification of Education I S C E D 1997. Paris: UNESCO-UIS; 2006.

    Google Scholar 

  8. R Core Team. A language and environment for statistical computing. Wien: R Foundation for Statistical Computing; 2013.

    Google Scholar 

  9. Statistik Austria. Statistik des Bevölkerungsstandes gemäß § 9 Abs. 9 FAG. 2008. Gebietsstand 1.1.2015.

    Google Scholar 

  10. Wiesbauer F, Blessberger H, Goliasch G. Elevated risk of myocardial infarction in very young immigrants from former Yugoslavia. Eur J Epidemiol. 2009;24(11):691–6. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10654-009-9392-1.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  11. Schulz AJ, House JS, Israel BA, et al. Relational pathways between socioeconomic position and cardiovascular risk in a multiethnic urban sample: complexities and their implications for improving health in economically disadvantaged populations. J Epidemiol Community Health. 2008;62(7):638–46. https://doi.org/10.1136/jech.2007.063222.

    CAS  Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  12. World Health Organisation (WHO). Ottawa charter for health promotion. 1986.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Affiliations

  1. Krankenanstalt Rudolfstiftung, Juchgasse 25, 1030, Vienna, Austria

    Duygu Gündüz, Anita Lesjak, Marion Avanzini, Walther-Benedikt Winkler, Hadice Ucar-Altenberger,  Claudia Stöllberger & Franz Weidinger

  2. Vienna Institute of Demography/Austrian Academy of Sciences, Wittgenstein Centre (IIASA, VID/ÖAW, WU), Welthandelsplatz 2, Level 2, 1020, Vienna, Austria

    Angela Wiedemann

  3. Steingasse 31/18, 1030, Vienna, Austria

    Claudia Stöllberger

Authors
  1. Duygu Gündüz
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Anita Lesjak
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Angela Wiedemann
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Marion Avanzini
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Walther-Benedikt Winkler
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Hadice Ucar-Altenberger
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. Claudia Stöllberger
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  8. Franz Weidinger
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Claudia Stöllberger.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest

D. Gündüz, A. Lesjak, A. Wiedemann, M. Avanzini, W.-B. Winkler, H. Ucar-Altenberger, C. Stöllberger, and F. Weidinger declare that they have no competing interests.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and Permissions

About this article

Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Gündüz, D., Lesjak, A., Wiedemann, A. et al. Acute coronary syndrome in immigrants and non-immigrants. Wien Klin Wochenschr 129, 900–905 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00508-017-1279-7

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00508-017-1279-7

Keywords

  • Cardiovascular risk factors
  • Socioeconomic status
  • Migration