Affiliation:
1. Department of Human Development and Family Sciences, University of Delaware , Newark, Delaware , USA
2. Department of Community Health Sciences, University of California, Los Angeles , Los Angeles, California , USA
3. Program for Research on Men’s Health, Hopkins Center for Health Disparities Solutions , Baltimore, Maryland , USA
Abstract
Abstract
Objectives
Substantial evidence documents gender and racial disparities in C-reactive protein (CRP), a measure of systemic inflammation, among older adults. Yet, the comparative approaches of these studies may obscure distinct risk and protective factors associated with elevated CRP among older Black Americans. To pinpoint opportunities for intervention, this study utilizes a “within-group approach” to identify the sociodemographic, psychosocial, behavioral, and health-related correlates of elevated CRP among older Black women and men.
Method
The sample consisted of 2,420 Black respondents aged 51 and older in the Health and Retirement Study (2006–2016). Gender-stratified, random effects logistic regression models were used to examine correlates of elevated CRP (>3.0 mg/L).
Results
More than 50% of Black women had elevated CRP, and younger age, Medicaid, lower mastery, religiosity, overweight/obesity, physical inactivity, and activities of daily living (ADLs) contributed to elevated CRP among this group. In contrast, elevated CRP was reported among only 37.25% of Black men, for whom financial distress was associated with lower odds of elevated CRP; religiosity, less neighborhood cohesion, current smoking, overweight/obesity, ADLs, and more chronic conditions were associated with greater odds of elevated CRP among this group.
Discussion
Sociodemographic factors had a limited association with elevated CRP among older Black Americans. Rather, a range of psychosocial, behavioral, and health-related factors were more influential determinants of elevated CRP among older Black Americans. Most notably, findings demonstrate distinct correlates of CRP among Black women and men, underscoring the critical need to further evaluate the risk and protective mechanisms undergirding disparities among this aging population.
Funder
National Institute on Aging
National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities
Publisher
Oxford University Press (OUP)
Subject
Geriatrics and Gerontology,Gerontology,Clinical Psychology,Social Psychology
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