Yang Joy C, Huang David, Hser Yih-Ing
UCLA Integrated Substance Abuse Programs, Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
J Urban Health. 2006 Sep;83(5):926-40. doi: 10.1007/s11524-006-9081-2.
Racial minorities generally exhibit worse health status than do whites. To assess the presence of similar phenomena among long-term cocaine-using veterans, this study examined racial variations in mortality and health status among cocaine-dependent men who were originally recruited at their admissions to cocaine treatment in 1988-1989 and were interviewed approximately 12 years later in 2002-2003. Mortality was higher among whites (15%) than blacks (6%), particularly due to drug overdose. Controlling for socioeconomic factors, cocaine severity, and depression, the racial difference was still significant in the survival analysis. Racial differences were examined in the health status of those interviewed in the 12-year follow-up study (178 blacks and 65 whites), after confirmation of their comparable socioeconomic backgrounds and levels of healthcare access and utilization. Contrary to expectations, few racial differences were found on most health indicators, although the level of cocaine use was higher among blacks. Furthermore, fewer blacks reported having hepatitis or sexually transmitted diseases than did whites. The study results suggest that black cocaine-dependent veterans do not have worse health status when compared with white veterans on most health indicators.
少数族裔的健康状况总体上比白人差。为了评估长期使用可卡因的退伍军人中是否存在类似现象，本研究调查了1988 - 1989年首次进入可卡因治疗机构的可卡因依赖男性的死亡率和健康状况的种族差异，并于2002 - 2003年对他们进行了约12年后的随访访谈。白人的死亡率（15%）高于黑人（6%），尤其是因药物过量导致的死亡。在控制了社会经济因素、可卡因严重程度和抑郁因素后，生存分析中的种族差异仍然显著。在12年随访研究中接受访谈的人群（178名黑人与65名白人）中，在确认他们具有可比的社会经济背景以及医疗保健获取和利用水平后，对健康状况的种族差异进行了研究。与预期相反，尽管黑人的可卡因使用水平较高，但在大多数健康指标上几乎没有发现种族差异。此外，报告患有肝炎或性传播疾病的黑人比白人少。研究结果表明，在大多数健康指标上，与白人退伍军人相比，黑人可卡因依赖退伍军人的健康状况并不更差。
