Larger social networks may help promote ideal CV health in South Asian adults living in US
Among South Asian residents in the U.S., larger social network size, including family and nonfamily members, was independently associated with their likelihood of ideal CV health, researchers reported.
According to data published in the Journal of the American Heart Association, characteristics such as network density and proportion of kin and other South Asians within a network were not associated with any change in ideal CV health.
“South Asian adults have worse cardiovascular health and more coronary artery calcium compared with other race/ethnicities,” Nilay S. Shah, MD, MPH, instructor of medicine and preventive medicine in the department of preventive medicine at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, and colleagues wrote. “The impact of the social environment has not been examined as a potential driver of CV health or coronary artery calcium in this population.”
Using data from the Mediators of Atherosclerosis in South Asians Living in America (MASALA) study, researchers evaluated whether social network size and density, proportion of network who are kin or South Asian ethnicity and reported health of participant’s identified social network members were associated with participant CV health and presence of CAC.
Researchers measured social network characteristics with an “egocentric” approach, which evaluated the relationships between study participants (n = 699; mean age, 59 years; 43% women) and their social network members in addition to characteristics social network members as reported by the participant. Surveys were administered by interviewers who spoke English, Hindi or Urdu.
Social network members were categorized as spouse, related kin, unrelated kin or nonkin.
CV health was defined using the American Heart Association’s Life’s Simple 7.
“Associations between social networks and health status may operate through mechanisms such as presence of social support as a facilitator of healthful behaviors, health information sharing between members of a social network either verbally or through digital communication, or shared behaviors that promote or detract from health. Notably, such associations — including those we observed — may potentially be attributable to homophily (ie, the tendency for people with similar health status to be socially connected),” the researchers wrote.
Social networks, CV health
Researchers observed that every one-person increase in social network size was associated with 13% better odds of ideal CV health compared with poor CV health (OR = 1.13; 95% CI, 1.01-1.27; P = .04).
According to the study, no significant associations were observed between social network density, proportion of kin in network, or proportion of South Asian ethnicity in network and CV health.
No significant associations were observed between social network characteristics and CAC.
Moreover, those who reported a social network member with high BP were 50% less likely to have intermediate CV health (OR = 0.5; 95% CI, 0.28-0.87; P = .02) and 49% less likely to have ideal CV health (OR = 0.51; 95% CI, 0.29-0.88; P = .02) relative to poor CV health. Similarly, having a social network member with high cholesterol was associated with 46% lower odds of ideal CV health (OR = 0.54; 95% CI, 0.3-0.94; P = .03) relative to poor CV health, according to the study.
Researchers observed no significant associations between health status of social network members and CAC.
“These findings suggest that the size of social networks and the health of social network members may influence the CV health of South Asian adults in the United States, and address gaps in CVD prevention research to understand how social networks may influence CV health and CVD risk in this population,” the researchers wrote.
Social networks of women vs. men
In other findings, South Asian women had larger average social network size compared with South Asian men (six vs. five people; P = .04).
Additionally, more women reported having a social network member with high BP (55.7% vs. 41.6%; P < .01), diabetes (45% vs. 36.8%; P = .03) or high cholesterol (47.7% vs. 38.6%; P = .02) compared with men.
“In the context of clinical assessment of social determinants of health, collecting data on patient social networks and social isolation in clinical settings may also inform and enhance clinical care, for South Asian individuals and other groups,” the researchers wrote. “Implementation of CV health interventions that incorporate social networks for health promotion and behavior change may be further enhanced by adapting evidence-based practices in other health conditions, such as for mental health, HIV and smoking.”
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