Cardio-metabolic outcomes in South Asians compared to White Europeans in the United Kingdom: a matched controlled population-based cohort study

BACKGROUND: There appears to be an inequality in the risk of cardio-metabolic disease between those from a South Asian (SA) background when compared to those of White Europeans (WE) descendance, however, this association has not been explored in a large European cohort. This population-based open retrospective cohort explores the incidence of cardio-metabolic disease in those without pre-existing cardiometabolic disease taken from a large UK primary care database from 1st January 2007 to 31st December 2017. METHODS: A retrospective open cohort matched population-based study using The Health Improvement Network (THIN) database. The outcomes of this study were the incidences of cardio-metabolic events (type 2 diabetes mellitus, hypertension, ischemic heart disease, stroke, heart failure, and atrial fibrillation). RESULTS: A total of 94,870 SA patients were matched with 189,740 WE patients. SA were at an increased risk of developing: T2DM (adjusted hazard ratio (aHR) 3.1; 95% CI 2.97–3.23); HTN (1.34; 95% CI: 1.29–1.39); ischaemic heart disease (IHD) (1.81; 95% CI: 1.68–1.93) and heart failure (HF) (1.11; 95% CI: 1.003–1.24). However, they were at a lower risk of atrial fibrillation (AF) (0.53; 95% CI: 0.48–0.59) when compared to WE. Of those of SA origin, the Bangladeshi community were at the greatest risk of T2DM, HTN, IHD and HF, but were at the lowest risk of AF in when compared to Indians and Pakistanis. CONCLUSION: Considering the high risk of cardio-metabolic diseases in the SA cohort, differential public health measures should be considered in these patients to reduce their risk of disease, which may be furthered tailored depending on their country of origin. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12872-021-02133-z.