Association of region of residence and immigrant status with hypertension, renal failure, cardiovascular disease, and stroke, among African-American participants in the third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES III)

OBJECTIVE: To determine whether current region of residence and immigrant status (born in the United States [US] vs abroad), are associated with the prevalence of hypertension (HTN), uncontrolled HTN, and HTN-related target-organ damage, among African Americans. METHODS: We studied the survey and physical examination data from a nationally representative cohort of 3,369 self-designated Black participants, aged 30-79 years, in the third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES III), which took place during 1988-1994. We calculated the age-adjusted prevalence rates of HTN, uncontrolled HTN, and history of HTN-related target-organ damage in US-born northern African Americans, US-born southern African Americans, and foreign-born African Americans. RESULTS: Hypertension (HTN) was more common among southern African-American men and women, compared to northern African-American men and women (42.2% vs 34.1%, P