Relationship between acculturation and blood pressure in Somali immigrants living in Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minnesota

Abstract Background Immigrant acculturation to the United States has been found to correlate with cardiovascular risks. Little extant research has evaluated the relationship between acculturation and blood pressure in Somali immigrants. Methods We surveyed and measured blood pressures of 1156 Somali immigrants in Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minnesota. Latent class analysis identified four distinct acculturation subgroups. We examined the data for predictors of hypertension using generalized estimating equations. Results Our sample was majority female (62.4%), mean age 47.9 ± 18.4 years, mean baseline body mass index 30.2 ± 8.6 kg/m2 and mean years in U.S. of 9.9 ± 6.1. Multivariate regression showed that one acculturation group (low English, high trust) was less likely to be hypertensive. Conclusion We found no relationship between several measures of acculturation and hypertension. We found a difference between one of our acculturation groups and the others, suggesting a more complex relationship between acculturation and hypertension among Somali immigrants.