Volunteerism and Cardiovascular Health: The HCHS/SOL Sociocultural Ancillary Study

Objective: We examined the association between volunteerism and favorable cardiovascular health (CVH) among Hispanics/Latinos living in the US. Methods: We used data from the Hispanic Community Health Study/Study of Latinos (2008-2011) Sociocultural Ancillary Study (N = 4926; ages 18-74 years). Favorable CVH was defined as positive profiles of all major CVD risk factors: low total serum cholesterol, blood pressure, and body mass index, not having diabetes, and not smoking. We adjusted survey-weighted logistic regression models for sociodemographic, lifestyle, and psychological factors. In secondary analyses, we tested whether the volunteerism-CVH association was modified by sex, age, or years lived in the US (<10 vs ≥10 years; a proxy acculturation measure). Results: Prevalence of volunteerism was 14.5%. Compared to non-volunteers, volunteers had 1.67 higher odds of favorable CVH in the fully adjusted model (OR = 1.67, 95% CI = 1.11, 2.52). There was evidence of effect modification by acculturation; only volunteers living in the US ≥10 years had 2.41 higher odds of favorable CVH (OR = 2.41, 95% CI = 1.53, 3.80). There was no evidence of effect modification by sex or age. Conclusions: Volunteerism was associated with favorable CVH among US Hispanics/Latinos.