title: Accelerated Health Declines among African Americans in the USA.
abstract: The weathering hypothesis, an explanation for race disparities in the USA, asserts that the health of African Americans begin to deteriorate prematurely compared to whites as a consequence of long-term exposure to social and environmental risk factors. Using data from 2000-2009 National Health Interview Surveys (NHIS), we sought to describe differences in age-related health outcomes in 619,130 African Americans and whites. Outcome measures included hypertension, diabetes, stroke, and cardiovascular disease. Using a mixed models approach to age-period-cohort analysis, we calculated age- and race-specific prevalence rates that accounted for the complex sampling design of NHIS. African Americans exhibited higher prevalence rates of hypertension, diabetes, and stroke than whites across all age groups. Consistent with the weathering hypothesis, African Americans exhibited equivalent prevalence rates for these three conditions 10 years earlier than whites. This suggests that African Americans are acquiring age-related conditions prematurely compared to whites.
authors.affiliation: Hopkins Center for Health Disparities Solutions, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, 624 N. Broadway, Ste 708, Baltimore, MD, 21205, USA. rthorpe@jhu.edu.|Department of Health, Behavior, and Society, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, USA. rthorpe@jhu.edu.|Center for Biobehavioral Health Disparities Research, Duke University, Durham, USA. rthorpe@jhu.edu.
authors.forename: Roland J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Thorpe
authors.affiliation: Hopkins Center for Health Disparities Solutions, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, 624 N. Broadway, Ste 708, Baltimore, MD, 21205, USA.
authors.forename: Ruth G
authors.initials: RG
authors.lastname: Fesahazion
authors.affiliation: Department of Health, Behavior, and Society, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, USA.
authors.forename: Lauren
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Parker
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Sciences, Florida A&M University, Tallahassee, FL, USA.
authors.forename: Tanganiyka
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Wilder
authors.affiliation: Department of Health and Behavioral Sciences, University of Colorado Denver, Denver, USA.
authors.forename: Ronica N
authors.initials: RN
authors.lastname: Rooks
authors.affiliation: Hopkins Center for Health Disparities Solutions, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, 624 N. Broadway, Ste 708, Baltimore, MD, 21205, USA.|Department of Health, Behavior, and Society, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, USA.
authors.forename: Janice V
authors.initials: JV
authors.lastname: Bowie
authors.affiliation: Department of African American Studies, University of Maryland College Park, College Park, MD, USA.
authors.forename: Caryn N
authors.initials: CN
authors.lastname: Bell
authors.affiliation: Hopkins Center for Health Disparities Solutions, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, 624 N. Broadway, Ste 708, Baltimore, MD, 21205, USA.|Johns Hopkins School of Nursing, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, USA.
authors.forename: Sarah L
authors.initials: SL
authors.lastname: Szanton
authors.affiliation: Hopkins Center for Health Disparities Solutions, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, 624 N. Broadway, Ste 708, Baltimore, MD, 21205, USA.|Department of Health Policy and Management, Milken Institute School of Public Health, George Washington University, Washington, DC, USA.
authors.forename: Thomas A
authors.initials: TA
authors.lastname: LaVeist
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001741:Black or African American / Q000523:psychology; D000368:Aged; D052636:Allostasis; D002908:Chronic Disease; D005260:Female; D054624:Health Status Disparities; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D013315:Stress, Psychological; D014481:United States; D044465:White People / Q000523:psychology
keywords: African Americans; Allostatic load; Chronic conditions; Health disparities; Mixed models; Stress; Weathering hypothesis