Health disparities in lifestyle choices among hypertensive Korean Americans, non-Hispanic Whites, and Blacks.
OBJECTIVE
To describe medication profile, diet, and exercise/physical activity in hypertensive Korean Americans, a convenience sample of 100 hypertensive Korean Americans (KAs) at two KA health clinics were interviewed by bilingual Korean nurses using questions from the 1988-1994 Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES III). One hundred age- and gender-matched hypertensive non-Hispanic Whites and 100 Blacks were randomly selected from the NHANES III dataset, and results were compared to describe the health disparities in lifestyle choices among the three groups.


RESULTS
The medication profile among the three groups was similar. A majority of members of all three groups had been told by health professionals to exercise for hypertension. KAs made significantly less effort to reduce salt in their diets than did members of the other two groups (p < .05). Fewer KAs than non-Hispanic Whites or Blacks were following their health professionals'advice to control or lose weight for their high blood cholesterol levels. KAs had the lowest body mass index and were older and more educated than members of the other two groups. KAs' primary reasons for using the KA clinic were the respect they received and the use of the Korean language.


CONCLUSIONS
KA health professionals need to teach their patients more about the importance of health-promoting lifestyles for hypertension and its contributing factors. More KA hypertensive patients should follow the advice of health professionals on healthy lifestyles. Nurses should continue to treat patients with respect and provide care with sensitivity to language needs of patients.
Kim
Mi Ja
MJ
College of Nursing, University of Illinois at Chicago, 60612, USA. mjk@uic.edu
Ahn
Yang-Heui
YH
Chon
Chris
C
Bowen
Phyllis
P
Khan
Shaheen
S
D000328:Adult; D001741:Black or African American / Q000208:ethnology*; D000368:Aged; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D000959:Antihypertensive Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D001213:Asian / Q000208:ethnology*; D002641:Chicago; D002755:Choice Behavior; D004038:Diet, Reducing / Q000523:psychology; D004039:Diet, Sodium-Restricted / Q000523:psychology; D015444:Exercise / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D015438:Health Behavior / Q000208:ethnology; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006293:Health Promotion; D006301:Health Services Needs and Demand; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000208:ethnology* / Q000517:prevention & control; D007723:Korea / Q000208:ethnology; D008019:Life Style / Q000208:ethnology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009749:Nutrition Surveys; D010349:Patient Compliance / Q000208:ethnology*; D010353:Patient Education as Topic; D012307:Risk Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D044465:White People / Q000208:ethnology*
D000959:Antihypertensive Agents