Cross-sectional association between perceived discrimination and hypertension in African-American men and women: the Pitt County Study

Am J Epidemiol. 2008 Mar 1;167(5):624-32. doi: 10.1093/aje/kwm334. Epub 2007 Dec 13.

Abstract

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.

Publication types

  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Aged
  • Black or African American / psychology*
  • Black or African American / statistics & numerical data
  • Body Mass Index
  • Cross-Sectional Studies
  • Female
  • Follow-Up Studies
  • Humans
  • Hypertension / ethnology*
  • Hypertension / psychology
  • Logistic Models
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • North Carolina / epidemiology
  • Prejudice*
  • Prevalence
  • Psychometrics
  • Risk Assessment
  • Risk Factors
  • Sex Factors
  • Social Perception*