Perceptions of coronary heart disease risk in Korean immigrants with type 2 diabetes.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine coronary heart disease (CHD) risk perception, risk factor status, and factors associated with CHD risk perception in Korean immigrants with type 2 diabetes mellitus.

Methods: A community sample of 143 Korean adults with type 2 diabetes, aged 30 to 80 years old, completed questionnaires and biological measures. A multiple regression analysis was conducted to evaluate the relationships between CHD knowledge, general health, smoking, medications for CHD risk factors, demographic variables (independent variables), and the perception of CHD risk (dependent variable).

Results: Participants had low perception of CHD risk, with most (76.9%) indicating their risk to be the same or lower than people of the same age and sex in the general population. Overall, CHD risk factor control was suboptimal according to American Diabetes Association guidelines. Only 41.3% of participants met the HbA1c goal of less than 7%. More than half (55%) had uncontrolled blood pressure, and a similar proportion (53.6%) had higher low-density lipoprotein cholesterol than the target goal. CHD knowledge and self-reported general health influenced the perception of CHD risk. More CHD knowledge and poor general health were associated with higher perception of CHD risk.

Conclusions: To increase the perception of CHD risk in Korean immigrants with type 2 diabetes, diabetes educators and clinicians should educate such patients about CHD risk factors and discuss their risk status at every visit. Those who report their health to be good deserve particular attention.