title: An Examination of Lower Extremity Function and its Correlates in Older African American and White Men.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Maintaining functional status and reducing/eliminating health disparities in late life are key priorities. Older African Americans have been found to have worse lower extremity functioning than Whites, but little is known about potential differences in correlates between African American and White men. The goal of this investigation was to examine measures that could explain this racial difference and to identify race-specific correlates of lower extremity function.
  
  
  METHODS
  Data were analyzed for a sample of community-dwelling men. Linear regression models examined demographics, medical conditions, health behaviors, and perceived discrimination and mental health as correlates of an objective measure of lower extremity function, the Short Physical Performance Battery (SPPB). Scores on the SPPB have a potential range of 0 to 12 with higher scores corresponding to better functioning.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The mean age of all men was 74.9 years (SD=6.5), and the sample was 50% African American and 53% rural. African American men had scores on the SPPB that were significantly lower than White men after adjusting for age, rural residence, marital status, education, and income difficulty (P<.01). Racial differences in cognitive functioning accounted for approximately 41% of the race effect on physical function. Additional models stratified by race revealed a pattern of similar correlates of the SPPB among African American and White men.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The results of this investigation can be helpful for researchers and clinicians to aid in identifying older men who are at-risk for poor lower extremity function and in planning targeted interventions to help reduce disparities.
authors.affiliation: 1. Department of Psychology, University of Alabama at Birmingham.
authors.forename: Olivio J
authors.initials: OJ
authors.lastname: Clay
authors.affiliation: 2. Department of Health, Behavior and Society, Program for Research on Men's Health, Hopkins Center for Health Disparities Solutions, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.
authors.forename: Roland J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Thorpe
authors.affiliation: 2. Department of Health, Behavior and Society, Program for Research on Men's Health, Hopkins Center for Health Disparities Solutions, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.
authors.forename: Larrell L
authors.initials: LL
authors.lastname: Wilkinson
authors.affiliation: 3. Department of Human Studies, University of Alabama at Birmingham.
authors.forename: Eric P
authors.initials: EP
authors.lastname: Plaisance
authors.affiliation: 1. Department of Psychology, University of Alabama at Birmingham.
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Crowe
authors.affiliation: 6. The UAB Comprehensive Center for Healthy Aging, Department of Medicine, University of Alabama at Birmingham.
authors.forename: Patricia
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Sawyer
authors.affiliation: 4. Birmingham/Atlanta VA Geriatric Research Education and Clinical Center ; 5. Department of Medicine, Division of Gerontology, Geriatrics, and Palliative Care, University of Alabama at Birmingham.
authors.forename: Cynthia J
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Brown
mesh_terms: D001741:Black or African American; D000368:Aged; D000407:Alabama; D006801:Humans; D035002:Lower Extremity / Q000502:physiology*; D008297:Male; D054526:Men's Health / Q000208:ethnology*; D008603:Mental Health; D044465:White People
keywords: African American Men; Health Disparities; Lower Extremity Function