Study: Asian-American Heart Failure Patients More Likely to Develop Chronic Conditions

University at Albany researcher Feng Qian examined the clinical profile, quality of care, and health outcomes over 150,000 patients with heart failure. He found Asian-American heart failure patients are more likely than their white counterparts to develop chronic conditions. (Graphic courtesy of American Heart Association)

ALBANY, N.Y (July 29, 2015) – New research from the University at Albany shows that Asian-American heart failure patients are more likely than their white counterparts to have chronic conditions such as diabetes, hypertension and renal disease.

The study, conducted by Feng Qian, an assistant professor of health policy and management at UAlbany’s School of Public Health, examined the clinical profile, quality of care, and health outcomes of over 150,000 patients with heart failure. Of those, 3,774 were Asian-American. The study was published in the June 15 in the International Journal of Cardiology.

Overall, he found Asian-American patients had comparable quality of care, but were less likely to receive medicine upon discharge from the hospital, including diuretics called aldosterone antagonists and blood thinners for abnormal heart rhythm.

The study also showed Asian-American patients were on average younger, more likely to be male, and to not have insurance or covered by Medicaid. Compared with white patients, Asian-American patients had a similar likelihood of hospital stays greater than four days and risk rates for dying while in the hospital. However, the study showed Asian-Americans were more likely to be discharged home.

Assistant Professor of health policy and management at UAlbany’s School of Public Health Feng Qian

Qian said there’s been few studies that look at heart health within the Asian-America patients. Yet, they’ve become the fast growing racial group in the United States, with a growth rate of 2.9 percent.

“Asian-American health is one I have a passion for,” Qian said. “I also think it is understudied and very heterogeneous. We need to dig deeper and find out more about each sub group, to help in diagnosis, disease education, health promotion and treatment.”

The research report notes Asian community have different cultural attitudes and traditions toward health and medicine, determining whether and how they reach out for help, their views on medicine and more. However, Qian believes much deeper study is needed to develop better culturally-tailored strategies for health education and preventative care.

This is the third major paper Qian has published on Asian-Americans and heart health since 2012. He’s received funding from the American Heart Association on all three projects.

To learn more about Dr. Qian’s research visit the American Heart Association’s official blog. Also view his official UAlbany expert page.

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