School of Social Work, University of Texas at Arlington, Baltimore, Maryland.
Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland.
J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci. 2020 Jan 20;75(2):291-296. doi: 10.1093/gerona/gly267.
This study examines the relationship between self-reported instances of major discrimination and inflammation among older adults, and explores whether this relationship varies in accordance with race/ethnicity. We hypothesized that self-reported instances of major discrimination would be associated with higher levels of high-risk inflammation and that this relationship would be stronger for racial/ethnic minorities than whites.
Data from the 2006/2008 Health and Retirement Study, an ongoing biennial nationally representative sample of older adults in the United States, were used to collect measures of self-reported instances of major discrimination and high-risk C-reactive protein (CRP), which was assayed from blood samples. Modified Poisson regression with robust standard errors was applied to estimate the prevalence ratios of self-reported instances of major discrimination, as it relates to high-risk CRP (CRP ≥ 22 kg/m2), and test whether this relationship varies by race/ethnicity.
Respondents who experienced any instances of major discrimination had a higher likelihood of high-risk CRP (prevalence ratio [PR]: 1.14, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.07-1.22) than those who did not report experiencing any instances of major discrimination. This association was independent of differences in newly diagnosed health conditions and socioeconomic status. The relationship between any self-reported instance of major discrimination and high-risk CRP was weaker for blacks than whites (PR: 0.81, 95% CI = 0.69-0.95).
Our study confirms that self-reported instances of major lifetime discrimination is a psychosocial factor that is adversely associated with high-risk CRP among older adults; this association is especially pronounced among older whites. Future studies among this population are required to examine whether the relationship between self-reported instances of major discrimination and high-risk CRP changes over time.
本研究考察了老年人自述的重大歧视事件与炎症之间的关系，并探讨了这种关系是否因种族/民族而异。我们假设，自述的重大歧视事件与高水平的高危炎症有关，而且这种关系在少数族裔（黑人和西班牙裔）中比白人更强。
本研究使用了 2006/2008 年健康与退休研究的数据，这是一项针对美国老年人群体的持续两年一次的全国代表性样本，收集了自述的重大歧视事件和高危 C 反应蛋白（CRP）的测量值，后者是从血液样本中检测出来的。采用稳健标准误差的修正泊松回归来估计自述的重大歧视事件与高危 CRP（CRP≥22kg/m2）之间的患病率比值，并检验这种关系是否因种族/民族而异。
与没有报告经历过任何重大歧视事件的受访者相比，经历过任何重大歧视事件的受访者更有可能出现高危 CRP（患病率比 [PR]：1.14，95%置信区间 [CI]：1.07-1.22）。这种关联独立于新诊断的健康状况和社会经济地位的差异。自述的任何重大歧视事件与高危 CRP 之间的关系在黑人中比在白人中较弱（PR：0.81，95%CI：0.69-0.95）。
我们的研究证实，自述的一生中重大歧视事件是一个社会心理因素，与老年人的高危 CRP 呈负相关；这种关联在老年白人中尤为明显。需要对这一人群进行进一步的研究，以检验自述的重大歧视事件与高危 CRP 之间的关系是否随时间而变化。
