TY - JOUR
T1 - The Role of Social Context in Racial Disparities in Self-Rated Health
AU - Bell, Caryn N.
AU - Thorpe, Roland J.
AU - LaVeist, Thomas A.
N1 - Funding Information:
Acknowledgement This work was supported by the National Center on Minority Health and Health Disparities, National Institutes of Health (P60 MD000214-01) and a grant from Pfizer.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2017, The New York Academy of Medicine.
PY - 2018/2/1
Y1 - 2018/2/1
N2 - Race disparities in self-rated health in the USA are well-documented, such that African Americans rate their health more poorly than whites. However, after adjusting for health status, socioeconomic status (SES), and health behaviors, residual race differences are observed. This suggests the importance of unmeasured variables. Because African Americans and whites tend to live in differing social contexts, it is possible that accounting for social and environmental conditions may reduce racial disparities in self-rated health. Differences in self-rated health among whites and African Americans were assessed in a low-income, urban integrated community (Exploring Health Disparities in Integrated Communities (EHDIC)) and compared with a national sample (National Health Interview Survey (NHIS)). Controlling for demographics, SES, health insurance, status, and behaviors, African Americans in NHIS had higher odds of reporting fair or poor health (odds ratio [OR] = 1.40, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.18–1.66) than whites. In EHDIC, there was no race difference in self-rated health (OR = 0.83, 95% CI = 0.63–1.11). These results demonstrate the importance of social context in understanding race disparities in self-rated health.
AB - Race disparities in self-rated health in the USA are well-documented, such that African Americans rate their health more poorly than whites. However, after adjusting for health status, socioeconomic status (SES), and health behaviors, residual race differences are observed. This suggests the importance of unmeasured variables. Because African Americans and whites tend to live in differing social contexts, it is possible that accounting for social and environmental conditions may reduce racial disparities in self-rated health. Differences in self-rated health among whites and African Americans were assessed in a low-income, urban integrated community (Exploring Health Disparities in Integrated Communities (EHDIC)) and compared with a national sample (National Health Interview Survey (NHIS)). Controlling for demographics, SES, health insurance, status, and behaviors, African Americans in NHIS had higher odds of reporting fair or poor health (odds ratio [OR] = 1.40, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.18–1.66) than whites. In EHDIC, there was no race difference in self-rated health (OR = 0.83, 95% CI = 0.63–1.11). These results demonstrate the importance of social context in understanding race disparities in self-rated health.
KW - Race
KW - Self-rated health
KW - Social context
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U2 - 10.1007/s11524-017-0211-9
DO - 10.1007/s11524-017-0211-9
M3 - Article
C2 - 29204842
AN - SCOPUS:85036549578
SN - 1099-3460
VL - 95
SP - 13
EP - 20
JO - Journal of Urban Health
JF - Journal of Urban Health
IS - 1
ER -