Racial differences in the relation of subjective socioeconomic status to cardiovascular disease risk in the Healthy Aging in Neighborhoods of Diversity across the Life Span study
Allen AJ, McNeely JM, Waldstein SR, Evans MK, Zonderman AB. Racial differences in the relation of subjective socioeconomic status to cardiovascular disease risk in the Healthy Aging in Neighborhoods of Diversity across the Life Span study. Meritorious poster presented at the 70th Annual Meeting of the American Psychosomatic Society; 14-17 March 2012; New Orleans. Annals of Behavioral Medicine. 2012;43:S16.
Higher rates of cardiovascular (CV) disease and its risk factors are well documented among those with objective indicators of lower socioeconomic status (SES) such as income, education, and occupation. However, relatively little is known about the relations of subjective SES to CVD risk, particularly within different racial groups. Here we examine relations of subjective SES to CV risk profile in 2,415 socioeconomically diverse African American and White adults enrolled in the Healthy Aging in Neighborhoods of Diversity Across the Lifespan (HANDLS) Study. At the baseline visit, participants were given a comprehensive medical exam and psychosocial questionnaires on a mobile research vehicle. Excluded for the present data analyses were those with a medical history of any type of CV disease. The sample had a mean age of 47.68 years, was 57% female, 56% African American, and 39% below 125% poverty status. CV risk was calculated using the Framingham 10-year CV risk equation. Subjective SES was assessed using the MacArthur Scale of Subjective Social Status. First, a hierarchical linear regression was computed to assess the relation of subjective SES to CV risk, after adjusting for race, prescription medication use, illicit drug use, alcohol use, body mass index, cancer, depression, as well as neurological, metabolic, and inflammatory diseases. In the full sample, results showed that SES was associated with greater CV risk after full covariate adjustment (β=-0.06, F(1,1712)=6.44, p =.01). However, when the analysis was race-stratified, results showed that subjective SES was a significant predictor of CV risk in Whites (β = -0.14, F (1,789)=15.99, p<.001), but not African Americans. These results suggest that although subjective SES might be helpful in predicting CV risk in Whites, it may not be useful in African Americans. Therefore, the relation between SES and CVD risk may vary depending on the race of the sample and how SES is measured.
Allen AJ, McNeely JM, Waldstein SR, Evans MK, Zonderman AB. Racial differences in the relation of subjective socioeconomic status to cardiovascular disease risk in the Healthy Aging in Neighborhoods of Diversity across the Life Span study. Meritorious poster presented at the 70th Annual Meeting of the American Psychosomatic Society; 14-17 March 2012; New Orleans. Annals of Behavioral Medicine. 2012;43:S16.
Higher rates of cardiovascular (CV) disease and its risk factors are well documented among those with objective indicators of lower socioeconomic status (SES) such as income, education, and occupation. However, relatively little is known about the relations of subjective SES to CVD risk, particularly within different racial groups. Here we examine relations of subjective SES to CV risk profile in 2,415 socioeconomically diverse African American and White adults enrolled in the Healthy Aging in Neighborhoods of Diversity Across the Lifespan (HANDLS) Study. At the baseline visit, participants were given a comprehensive medical exam and psychosocial questionnaires on a mobile research vehicle. Excluded for the present data analyses were those with a medical history of any type of CV disease. The sample had a mean age of 47.68 years, was 57% female, 56% African American, and 39% below 125% poverty status. CV risk was calculated using the Framingham 10-year CV risk equation. Subjective SES was assessed using the MacArthur Scale of Subjective Social Status. First, a hierarchical linear regression was computed to assess the relation of subjective SES to CV risk, after adjusting for race, prescription medication use, illicit drug use, alcohol use, body mass index, cancer, depression, as well as neurological, metabolic, and inflammatory diseases. In the full sample, results showed that SES was associated with greater CV risk after full covariate adjustment (β=-0.06, F(1,1712)=6.44, p =.01). However, when the analysis was race-stratified, results showed that subjective SES was a significant predictor of CV risk in Whites (β = -0.14, F (1,789)=15.99, p<.001), but not African Americans. These results suggest that although subjective SES might be helpful in predicting CV risk in Whites, it may not be useful in African Americans. Therefore, the relation between SES and CVD risk may vary depending on the race of the sample and how SES is measured.
