title: Disentangling race and social context in understanding disparities in chronic conditions among men.
abstract: Disparities in men's health research may inaccurately attribute differences in chronic conditions to race rather than the different health risk exposures in which men live. This study sought to determine whether living in the same social environment attenuates race disparities in chronic conditions among men. This study compared survey data collected in 2003 from black and white men with similar incomes living in a racially integrated neighborhood of Baltimore to data from the 2003 National Health Interview Survey. Multivariable logistic regression models estimated to determine whether race disparities in chronic conditions were attenuated among men living in the same social environment. In the national sample, black men exhibited greater odds of having hypertension (odds ratio [OR] = 1.58, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.34, 1.86) and diabetes (OR = 1.62, 95% CI 1.27-2.08) than white men. In the sample of men living in the same social context, black and white respondents had similar odds of having hypertension (OR = 1.05, 95% CI 0.70, 1.59) and diabetes (OR = 1.12, 95% CI 0.57-2.22). There are no race disparities in chronic conditions among low-income, urban men living in the same social environment. Policies and interventions aiming to reduce disparities in chronic conditions should focus on modifying social aspects of the environment.
authors.affiliation: Program for Research on Men's Health, Hopkins Center for Health Disparities Solutions, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, USA, rthorpe@jhu.edu.
authors.forename: Roland J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Thorpe
authors.forename: Caryn N
authors.initials: CN
authors.lastname: Bell
authors.forename: Alene
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kennedy-Hendricks
authors.forename: Jelani
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Harvey
authors.forename: Jenny R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Smolen
authors.forename: Janice V
authors.initials: JV
authors.lastname: Bowie
authors.forename: Thomas A
authors.initials: TA
authors.lastname: LaVeist
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001741:Black or African American / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D015142:Baltimore / Q000453:epidemiology; D044383:Black People / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D002908:Chronic Disease / Q000208:ethnology*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003920:Diabetes Mellitus / Q000208:ethnology*; D054624:Health Status Disparities; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000208:ethnology*; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D054526:Men's Health / Q000208:ethnology*; D008875:Middle Aged; D011203:Poverty / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D044465:White People / Q000706:statistics & numerical data