Using data from patients presenting to Auckland’s Middlemore Hospital Coronary Care Unit with an acute cardiovascular disease (CVD) event from July 2004 to June 2006, this study investigated the burden of modifiable CVD risk factors by age, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status. Of 973 patients, 34% were <55 years and 10% were <45 years, 24.8% were women, and 44.6% lived in areas classified as most deprived. 61.5% were European/ other, 13.0% NZ Māori, 15.2% Pacific, and 10.3% South Asian. Younger patients, regardless of ethnicity, were much more likely to be smokers, be obese, have elevated LDL and trigyceride, and low HDL levels. Across the age range, Māori and Pacific patients were more likely than European/other patients to smoke, have diabetes, obesity, elevated triglycerides, and low HDL. Increasing deprivation was associated with more smoking, obesity, hypertriglyceridaemia and diabetes, with the excess of smoking and obesity being most pronounced in younger patients.
