Decomposing Race and Ethnic Differences in CVD Risk Factors for Mid-life Women

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

1 Scopus citations

Abstract

Objective: This study decomposes race and ethnic differences in hypertension, waist circumference, obesity and allostatic load between black non-Hispanic (BNH), Mexican American (MA), and white non-Hispanic (WNH) women. Data: This study uses 10,109 observations from The National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey from years 1999–2014 for BNH, MA women, and WNH between 40 and 75 years old. Methodology: We used the Oaxaca-Blinder decomposition to explore how demographic, socioeconomic, healthcare access, and health behavior factors are associated with race and ethnic differences in blood pressure, waist circumference, body mass index (BMI), and allostatic load score (ALS). Results: We found that demographic factors, socioeconomic status, healthcare access, and health behaviors explained from 0 to 50% of the difference in CVD risk factors between BNH and WNH. However, these factors explain from 39 to 100% of the difference in CVD risk factors between MA and WNH. Differences in demographic, socioeconomic, access to care, and health behavior factor variables explained very little of the differences in CVD risk factors between NHB and MA women. Conclusion: The impact of the determinants on CVD risk factors varies by race and ethnicity. Efforts to address differences in CVD risk factors should promote health equity programs and acknowledge that even race and ethnic groups that have similar demographic, SES, access to care, and health behavior factors can have different outcomes.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)174-185
Number of pages12
JournalJournal of Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities
Volume8
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - Feb 2021

Keywords

  • Allostatic load score
  • Blood pressure
  • Body mass index
  • Race and ethnic disparities
  • Waist circumference
  • Women’s health

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Health(social science)
  • Anthropology
  • Sociology and Political Science
  • Health Policy
  • Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health

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