Hypertension in the San Antonio Heart Study and the Mexico City Diabetes Study: sociocultural correlates.

WE EXAMINED THE ASSOCIATION between sociocultural status (assimilation, modernization, and socioeconomic status) and blood pressure among people of Mexican origin living in San Antonio, Texas, and Mexico City. In San Antonio, higher levels of sociocultural status, especially education and structural assimilation, were generally associated with favorable blood pressure. In Mexico City, greater modernization had a consistently beneficial effect on blood pressure in women, but a consistently harmful effect in men. Higher education was associated with lower prevalence of hypertension and greater awareness, treatment, and control of hypertension in both sexes.