American Journal of Epidemiology Advance Access originally published online on December 13, 2007
American Journal of Epidemiology 2008 167(5):624-632; doi:10.1093/aje/kwm334
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ORIGINAL CONTRIBUTIONS |
Cross-Sectional Association between Perceived Discrimination and Hypertension in African-American Men and Women
The Pitt County Study
1 Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC
2 Terry Sanford Institute of Public Policy, Duke University, Durham, NC
Correspondence to Calpurnyia B. Roberts, CB #8050, School of Public Health, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Bank of America Bldg., Suite 306, 137 East Franklin Street, Chapel Hill, NC 27514 (e-mail: calp{at}email.unc.edu).
Received for publication February 12, 2007. Accepted for publication October 23, 2007.
Few studies have examined the impact of the frequency of discrimination on hypertension risk. The authors assessed the cross-sectional associations between frequency of perceived racial and nonracial discrimination and hypertension among 1,110 middle-aged African-American men (n = 393) and women (n = 717) participating in the 2001 follow-up of the Pitt County Study (Pitt County, North Carolina). Odds ratios were estimated using gender-specific unconditional weighted logistic regression with adjustment for relevant confounders and the frequency of discrimination. More than half of the men (57%) and women (55%) were hypertensive. The prevalences of perceived racial discrimination, nonracial discrimination, and no discrimination were 57%, 29%, and 13%, respectively, in men and 42%, 43%, and 15%, respectively, in women. Women recounting frequent nonracial discrimination versus those reporting no exposure to discrimination had the highest odds of hypertension (adjusted odds ratio = 2.34, 95% confidence interval: 1.09, 5.02). A nonsignificant inverse odds ratio was evident in men who perceived frequent exposure to racial or nonracial discrimination in comparison with no exposure. A similar association was observed for women reporting perceived racial discrimination. These results indicate that the type and frequency of discrimination perceived by African-American men and women may differentially affect their risk of hypertension.
African continental ancestry group; discrimination (psychology); hypertension; prejudice; sex factors; stress
Abbreviations: CI, confidence interval; OR, odds ratio
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