Ambient air pollution and racial/ethnic differences in carotid @entity121 in the Multi-Ethnic Study of XXXX (MESA).

@entity1 @entity1568 @entity28600 @entity731 @entity121
BACKGROUND: In the USA, ethnic disparities in @entity731 persist after accounting for known risk factors. Ambient air pollution is associated with increased levels of @entity731 and differs in the USA by race/ethnicity. We estimated the influence of ambient air pollution exposure to ethnic differences in common carotid @entity121 ( @entity121 ). METHODS: We cross-sectionally studied 6347 Caucasian-American, African-American, Hispanic and Chinese adults across 6 US cities in 2000-2002. Annual ambient air pollution concentrations (fine particulate matter [PM2.5] and @entity28600 of @entity1568 [NOX]) were estimated at each @entity1 's residence. @entity121 was assessed by ultrasound. RESULTS: The mean @entity121 was 19.4 and 37.6    m smaller for Hispanic @entity1 and @entity1 , 53.6 and 7.1    m smaller for Chinese @entity1 and @entity1 , and 23.4 and 38.7    m higher for African-American @entity1 and @entity1 compared with Caucasian-American @entity1 and @entity1 . After adjustment for PM2.5, the differences in @entity121 remained similar for Hispanic and African-American @entity1 but was even more negative for Chinese @entity1 (mean @entity121 difference of -58.4    m for @entity1 and -15.7    m for @entity1 ) compared with Caucasian-American @entity1 . The @entity121 difference in Chinese @entity1 compared with Caucasian-American @entity1 related to their higher PM2.5 exposures was 4.8    m (95% CI 0.2 to 10.8) for @entity1 and 8.6    m (95% CI 3.4 to 15.3) for @entity1 . NOX was not related to ethnic differences in @entity121 . CONCLUSIONS: The smaller carotid @entity121 levels in Chinese @entity1 were even smaller after accounting for higher PM2.5 concentrations in Chinese @entity1 compared with Caucasian-American @entity1 . Air pollution was not related to @entity121 differences in African-American and Hispanic @entity1 compared with Caucasian-American @entity1 .
