title: Social Capital and the Paradox of Poor but Healthy Groups in the United States.
abstract: Increased income strongly correlates with improved health and lower mortality risk. Yet in spite of having a lower mean and median income, both Hispanics and the foreign-born living within the U.S. have higher longevity compared with native-born, non-Hispanics. We explored the role of structural social capital in conferring protection against poor health outcomes among Hispanics and the foreign-born in the US. We used the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey III 1988-1994 linked to prospective mortality follow up to examine the relationship between five measures of structural social capital and: (1) intermediate health outcomes (blood pressure, plasma fibrinogen, C-reactive protein, and total cholesterol) and (2) a distal outcome (all cause mortality). The foreign-born and Hispanics generally had lower measures of structural social capital relative to native-born non-Hispanics. Additionally, while structural social capital was protective against poor health or mortality among native-born persons, the association disappeared for Hispanics and the foreign-born.
authors.affiliation: Department of Emergency Medicine, Icahn School of Medicine, Mount Sinai St. Luke's/Mount Sinai West Hospitals, 1111 Amsterdam Avenue, New York, NY, 10025, USA. Elizabeth.singer@mssm.edu.
authors.forename: Elizabeth
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Singer
authors.affiliation: Department of Emergency Medicine, Mt. Sinai Hospital, 600 University Ave, Toronto, ON, M5G 1X5, Canada.
authors.forename: Roisin
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: McElroy
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Policy and Management, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, 722 West 168th St., New York, NY, 10032, USA.
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Muennig
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D015415:Biomarkers; D001794:Blood Pressure; D002097:C-Reactive Protein / Q000032:analysis; D002784:Cholesterol / Q000097:blood; D054242:Emigrants and Immigrants / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D005340:Fibrinogen / Q000032:analysis; D006304:Health Status; D006630:Hispanic or Latino / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D007182:Income / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D008017:Life Expectancy / Q000208:ethnology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009026:Mortality / Q000208:ethnology*; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D066270:Social Capital; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D005340:Fibrinogen; D002097:C-Reactive Protein; D002784:Cholesterol
keywords: Foreign-born; Health; Hispanics; NHANES III; Social capital