Racial discrimination and alcohol-related behavior in urban transit operators: findings from the San Francisco Muni Health and Safety Study.
OBJECTIVE
A growing body of literature is documenting the health effects of racial discrimination. The authors investigated the association between racial discrimination and alcohol-related behavior in a sample of urban transit operators.


METHODS
Using data from a 1993-1995 cross-sectional study of transit operators in San Francisco, California, the authors analyzed responses to two sets of questions about racial discrimination; the first set focused on reaction to unfair treatment and the second on arenas, or domains, of discrimination. Alcohol-related variables were: number of drinks per month, heavy drinking, alcohol dependence, and negative consequences of alcohol consumption.


RESULTS
Operators who reported five or more domains of discrimination drank an average of 13.4 more drinks per month than those who reported no domains of discrimination (P = 0.01). Similarly, they were more likely to be heavy drinkers (adjusted odds ratio [OR] = 2.16; 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.14, 4.09) and dependent on alcohol (adjusted OR = 2.02; 95% CI 1.08, 3.79) than operators who reported no domains of discrimination. The number of domains in which operators reported having experienced discrimination was not related to sex, age, household income, job seniority, or marital status, but varied significantly by educational level and race/ethnicity.


CONCLUSIONS
Data from a sample of urban transit operators showed an association between the number of domains of discrimination and some alcohol-related outcomes, but not others.
Yen
I H
IH
School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley 94720, USA. xiaoyan@uclink4.berkeley.edu
Ragland
D R
DR
Greiner
B A
BA
Fisher
J M
JM
D000328:Adult; D000428:Alcohol Drinking; D004522:Educational Status; D005006:Ethnicity; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007182:Income; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D009790:Occupations; D011287:Prejudice; D044469:Racial Groups; D012495:San Francisco; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014186:Transportation