The use of antihypertensive drugs in different ethnic groups in Norwegian population

According to Statistics Norway 2021, the number of persons with immigrants background from South Asia living in Norway was approximately 80 000.

In a register based study covering the complete Norwegian population there were substantial differences of Acute Myocardial infection (AMI) and stroke among ethnic immigrants groups in Norway. Whereas men and women from Western Europe, North America, East Asia and Southeast Asia had lowered risk of AMI compared to ethnic Norwegians, immigrants from South Asia had a more than two-fold increased risks of AMI. They also had increased risk of stroke.

There is no clear information regarding the use of antihypertensive drugs among persons with immigrant’s background from South Asia (Bhutan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Maldives, Pakistan, India, Srilanka) in Norway. We therefore aimed to conduct the research to determine the use of Anti-hypertensive drugs among South Asians in Norway compared to the majority Norwegian population. We also aim to investigate the compliance of anti-hypertensive drugs in these groups.

The study is a sub study of the large project ‘A life-course approach to prevent non-communicable diseases in an ageing population (NCDNOR)’ at the Norwegian Institute of Public Health. From this project we will use the relevant data on immigrant background from the Statistics Norway linked to the use of medication information from Norwegian Prescription database (NorPD). The data used by the master student will be anonymous.