Key result
Ethnicity, culture, and context are critical in determining cardiovascular disease risk factors and the comparative effectiveness of interventions in low- and middle-income countries.
Why the study?
Low- and middle-income countries experience the highest prevalence and mortality rates of cardiovascular disease, but the influence of ethnicity, culture, and context on risk factors and management strategies in diverse settings remains underaddressed.
This opinion piece highlights the critical need for cardiovascular research focusing on diverse ethnicities and cultural contexts in low- and middle-income countries to improve global CVD prevention and management.
Highlights need for culturally adapted CVD strategies in LMICs; leaves open comparative effectiveness of interventions by ethnicity and context.
BACKGROUND: Low- and middle-income countries now experience the highest prevalence and mortality rates of cardiovascular disease. MAIN TEXT: While improving the availability and delivery of proven, effective therapies will no doubt mitigate this burden, we posit that studies evaluating cardiovascular disease risk factors, management strategies and service delivery, in diverse settings and diverse populations, are equally critical to improving outcomes in low- and middle-income countries. Focusing on examples drawn from four cardiovascular diseases - coronary artery disease, stroke, diabetes and kidney disease - we argue that ethnicity, culture and context matter in determining the risk factors for disease as well as the comparative effectiveness of medications and other interventions, particularly diet and lifestyle interventions. CONCLUSION: We believe that a host of cohort studies and randomized control trials currently being conducted or planned in low- and middle-income countries, focusing on previously understudied race/ethnic groups, have the potential to increase knowledge about the cause(s) and management of cardiovascular diseases across the world.
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Anand et al. (2020) conducted a review in Cardiovascular disease. Ethnicity, culture, and context are critical in determining cardiovascular disease risk factors and the comparative effectiveness of interventions in low- and middle-income countries.
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