Background/Aims
Culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) communities are growing in Australia and globally. Understanding patterns of cerebrovascular disease in these communities may improve health outcomes through culturally-specific interventions. Aim: To compare rates of transient ischaemic attack (TIA), ischaemic stroke (IS) and intracerebral haemorrhage (ICH), and stroke risk factor prevalence and severity in Vietnamese-born resident of South Western Sydney (SWS) with those of an Australian-born cohort.
Methods
Retrospective case-control study. Data were extracted from Health Information Exchange and Secure Analytics for Population Health Research and Intelligence systems. Stroke subtypes and rates of hypertension, type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), atrial fibrillation (AF), tobacco smoking and obesity were also calculated.
Results
Rates of hypertension (83.7% vs 70.3%, p <0.001) and dyslipidaemia (81.0% vs 68.2%, p<0.001) were significantly higher in Vietnamese patients, while rates of ischaemic heart disease (10.4% vs 20.3%, p<0.001), smoking (24.4% vs 40.8% p<0.001), and alcohol abuse (>1 drink/day) (9.6% vs 15.9%p<0.001) were lower. Rates of ICAD and ICH were higher in Vietnamese patients (30.9% vs 6.9%, p<0.001 and 24.7% vs 14.4%, p=0.002). Regression analysis revealed that diabetes (OR: 1.86; 95% CI:1.14-3.04, p=0.014) and glycosylated haemoglobin (OR: 1.51; 95% CI: 1.15-1.98, p=0.003) were predictors of ICAD in Vietnamese patients.
Conclusions
Vietnamese communities in SWS have higher rates of stroke subtypes, in particular symptomatic intracranial arterial disease and haemorrhagic stroke and cerebrovascular risk factors compared to Australian-born counterparts. Culturally-specific interventions arising in part from these findings may bridge the gap in cerebrovascular disease burden between CALD and Australian-born communities.