Rush Alzheimer's Disease Center, Rush University Medical Center, 600 South Paulina, Suite 1038, Chicago, IL 60612, USA.
J Gerontol B Psychol Sci Soc Sci. 2011 May;66(3):354-63. doi: 10.1093/geronb/gbr016. Epub 2011 Mar 14.
Few studies have explicitly tested whether the health disadvantage among older blacks is consistent across the entire range of education. We examined racial differences in the cross-sectional association of education with physical and cognitive function performance in older adults.
Participants included over 9500 blacks and whites, aged ≥ 65 years, from the Chicago Health and Aging Project {64% black, 60% women, mean age = 73.0 (standard deviation [SD] = 6.9), mean education = 12.2 (SD = 3.5)}. Physical function was assessed using 3 physical performance tests, and cognitive function was assessed with 4 performance-based tests; composite measures were created and used in analyses.
In multiple regression models that controlled for age, age-squared, sex, and race, and their interactions, whites and those with higher education (>12 years) performed significantly better on both functional health measures. The association of education with each indicator of functional health was similar in older blacks and whites with low levels (≤ 12 years) of education. However, at higher levels of education, there was a significantly more positive association between years of education and these functional health outcomes among blacks than whites.
Results from this biracial population-based sample in the Midwest suggest that blacks may enjoy greater returns in functional health for additional education beyond high school.
鲜有研究明确检验过，在整个受教育程度范围内，老年黑人的健康劣势是否始终存在。我们检验了在横断面研究中，教育与老年人身体和认知功能表现之间的关联在不同种族间的差异。
参与者包括超过 9500 名年龄在 65 岁及以上的芝加哥健康老龄化项目中的黑人和白人（64%为黑人，60%为女性，平均年龄为 73.0（标准差为 6.9），平均受教育年限为 12.2（标准差为 3.5））。使用 3 项身体机能测试评估身体功能，用 4 项基于表现的测试评估认知功能；创建了综合衡量指标，并在分析中使用。
在多项回归模型中，我们控制了年龄、年龄平方、性别和种族及其交互作用，并对其进行了调整，结果显示，白人和受教育程度较高（>12 年）的人在这两种身体功能健康衡量指标上的表现明显更好。在受教育程度较低（≤12 年）的老年黑人和白人中，教育与每种身体功能健康指标的关联相似。然而，在更高的教育水平上，受教育年限与这些身体功能健康结果之间的关联在黑人中比在白人中更为积极。
这项来自中西部的、基于两族裔的人群样本的研究结果表明，黑人可能会从高中以后接受更多教育中获得更大的身体功能健康回报。
