Cardiovascular disease and its management among Pacific people: a systematic review by ethnicity and place of birth

Pacific people experience a disproportionate burden of cardiovascular disease (CVD), whether they remain in their country of origin or migrate to higher-income countries, such as Australia, Aotearoa New Zealand or the United States of America. We sought to determine whether the CVD health needs of Pacific people vary according to their ethnicity or place of birth.

We conducted a systematic review of medical research databases and grey literature to identify relevant data published up to 2020. Texts were included if they contained original data stratified by Pacific-specific ethnicity or place of birth on the burden or management of CVD, and were assessed as having good quality using a National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute quality assessment tool. The protocol for this review was registered with the Open Science Forum (https://​doi.​org/​10.​17605/​OSF.​IO/​X7NR6).

Of 3679 texts identified, 310 full texts were reviewed and the quality of 23 of these assessed, using the pre-defined search strategy. Six items (four reports, one article, one webpage) of good quality met the review eligibility criteria. All included texts provided data on epidemiology but only one reported on the management of CVD. Four texts were of Pacific populations in Pacific Island countries and two were of Pacific diaspora in other countries. Data from the Global Burden of Disease study, which provided estimates for the greatest number of Pacific countries, showed substantial differences in mortality rates between Pacific countries for every CVD type. For example, the mortality rate per 100,000 for ischemic heart disease (IHD) ranged from 103.41 in the Cook Islands to 430.35 in the Solomon Islands. A New Zealand-based report showed differences in CVD rates by Pacific ethnicity (e.g. the age-standardised prevalence of IHD per 1,000 population in Auckland ranged from 107.8 (Niuean) to 138 among Cook Islands Māori (p < 0.001)).

This review of published studies reveals that the epidemiology of CVD among Pacific people varies by specific ethnic groups, place of birth, and country of residence. There is a critical need for high-quality contemporary ethnic-specific Pacific data to respond to the diverse CVD health needs in these underrepresented groups.