Abstract
Purpose
Most studies of perceived discrimination have been cross-sectional and focused primarily
on mental rather than physical health conditions. We examined the associations of
perceived racial and gender discrimination reported in adulthood with early life factors
and self-reported physician diagnosis of chronic physical health conditions.
Methods
We used data from a racially diverse birth cohort of U.S. women (n = 168; average age, 41 years) with prospectively collected early life data (e.g.,
parental socioeconomic factors) and adult reported data on perceived discrimination,
physical health conditions, and relevant risk factors. We performed modified robust
Poisson regression owing to the high prevalence of the outcomes.
Results
Fifty percent of participants reported racial and 39% reported gender discrimination.
Early life factors did not have strong associations with perceived discrimination.
In adjusted regression models, participants reporting at least three experiences of
gender or racial discrimination had a 38% increased risk of having at least one physical
health condition (relative risk, 1.38; 95% confidence interval, 1.01–1.87). Using
standardized regression coefficients, the magnitude of the association of having physical
health condition(s) was larger for perceived discrimination than for being overweight
or obese.
Conclusion
Our results suggest a substantial chronic disease burden associated with perceived
discrimination, which may exceed the impact of established risk factors for poor physical
health.
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Biography
Jasmine A. McDonald, PhD, is a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Epidemiology at the Mailman School of public Health at Columbia University. Her research interests are in early life exposures and the development of chronic conditions in later life.
Biography
Mary Beth Terry, PhD, is a professor of epidemiology at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health. Her research focuses on breast cancer and in the molecular epidemiology and lifecourse methods of the disease.
Biography
Parisa Tehranifar, DrPH, is an assistant professor of epidemiology at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health. Her research examines social inequalities in cancer and other chronic disease risk.
Article info
Publication history
Published online: December 16, 2013
Accepted:
September 20,
2013
Received in revised form:
August 12,
2013
Received:
April 17,
2013
Footnotes
Supported by the US Department of Defense Breast Cancer Research Program (grant DAMD 170210357); and the National Cancer Institute (grants K07 CA90685, 5T32 CA09529). The authors do not have any financial conflict of interest in the subject matter of this manuscript.
Identification
Copyright
© 2014 Jacobs Institute of Women's Health. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
