Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Primary Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) disproportionately affects ethnic-minority groups globally. Ethnic-minority groups face particularly high CVD burden and mortality, exacerbated by disparities across modifiable risk factors, wider determinants of health, and limited access to preventative interventions. This narrative review summarizes evidence on modifiable risk factors, such as physical activity, hypertension, diet, smoking, alcohol consumption, diabetes, and the polypill for the primary prevention of CVD in ethnic minorities. Across these factors, we find inequities in risk factor prevalence. The evidence underscores that inequalities in accessibility to interventions and treatments impede progress in reducing CVD risk using primary prevention interventions for ethnic-minority people. Although culturally tailored interventions show promise, further research is required across the different risk factors. Social determinants of health and structural inequities also exacerbate CVD risk for ethnic-minority people and warrant greater attention. Additionally, we find that only limited ethnicity-specific data and guidelines are available on CVD primary prevention interventions for most risk factors. To address these gaps in research, we provide recommendations that include the following: investigating the sustainability and real-world effectiveness of culturally sensitive interventions; ensuring that ethnic-minority peoples’ perspectives are considered in research; longitudinal tracking of risk factors; interventions and outcomes in ethnic-minority people; and ensuring that data collection and reporting of ethnicity data are standardized. Les maladies cardiovasculaires (MCV) affectent de manière disproportionnée les groupes de minorités ethniques dans le monde. Ces groupes sont confrontés à une mortalité et des contraintes liées aux MCV particulièrement élevées, exacerbées par les disparités entre les facteurs de risque modifiables, les déterminants de la santé au sens large et un accès limité aux interventions de prévention. Cette revue narrative résume les données probantes concernant les facteurs de risque modifiables, tels que l'activité physique, l'hypertension, l'alimentation, le tabagisme, la consommation d'alcool, le diabète et la multipilule pour la prévention primaire des MCV chez les minorités ethniques. Considérant l'ensemble de ces facteurs, nous constatons des inégalités dans la prévalence des facteurs de risque. Les données disponibles soulignent que