title: Socioeconomic status, race, and mortality: a prospective cohort study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  We evaluated the independent and joint effects of race, individual socioeconomic status (SES), and neighborhood SES on mortality risk.
  
  
  METHODS
  We conducted a prospective analysis involving 52 965 non-Hispanic Black and 23 592 non-Hispanic White adults taking part in the Southern Community Cohort Study. Cox proportional hazards modeling was used to determine associations of race and SES with all-cause and cause-specific mortality.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In our cohort, wherein Blacks and Whites had similar individual SES, Blacks were less likely than Whites to die during the follow-up period (hazard ratio [HR] = 0.78; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.73, 0.84). Low household income was a strong predictor of all-cause mortality among both Blacks and Whites (HR = 1.76; 95% CI = 1.45, 2.12). Being in the lowest (vs highest) category with respect to both individual and neighborhood SES was associated with a nearly 3-fold increase in all-cause mortality risk (HR = 2.76; 95% CI = 1.99, 3.84). There was no significant mortality-related interaction between individual SES and neighborhood SES among either Blacks or Whites.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  SES is a strong predictor of premature mortality, and the independent associations of individual SES and neighborhood SES with mortality risk are similar for Blacks and Whites.
authors.affiliation: Lisa B. Signorello is with the Department of Epidemiology, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, MA. Sarah S. Cohen and Heather M. Munro are with the International Epidemiology Institute, Rockville, MD. David R. Williams is with the Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Harvard School of Public Health. Margaret K. Hargreaves is with the Department of Internal Medicine, Meharry Medical College, Nashville, TN. William J. Blot is with the Department of Medicine, Vanderbilt University, Nashville.
authors.forename: Lisa B
authors.initials: LB
authors.lastname: Signorello
authors.forename: Sarah S
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Cohen
authors.forename: David R
authors.initials: DR
authors.lastname: Williams
authors.forename: Heather M
authors.initials: HM
authors.lastname: Munro
authors.forename: Margaret K
authors.initials: MK
authors.lastname: Hargreaves
authors.forename: William J
authors.initials: WJ
authors.lastname: Blot
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001741:Black or African American / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D000368:Aged; D003710:Demography; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009026:Mortality / Q000639:trends*; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D012923:Social Class; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology; D044465:White People / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*