Correlates of Elevated C-Reactive Protein Among Black Older Adults: Evidence From the Health and Retirement Study

Racial discrimination, the superwoman schema, and allostatic load: Exploring an integrative stress–coping model among African American women

Heather R Farmer, Courtney S Thomas Tobin, Roland J Thorpe and Lynn Martire

The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, 2022, vol. 77, issue 11, 1964-1977

Abstract: ObjectivesSubstantial 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.MethodThe 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).ResultsMore 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.DiscussionSociodemographic 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.

Keywords: Black Americans; Black men; Black women; C-reactive protein; Health and Retirement Study (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://hdl.handle.net/10.1093/geronb/gbac033 (application/pdf)
Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:oup:geronb:v:77:y:2022:i:11:p:1964-1977.

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
https://academic.oup.com/journals

Access Statistics for this article

The Journals of Gerontology: Series B is currently edited by Psychological Sciences - S. Duke Han, PhD and Social Sciences - Jessica A Kelley, PhD, FGSA

More articles in The Journals of Gerontology: Series B from The Gerontological Society of America Oxford University Press, Great Clarendon Street, Oxford OX2 6DP, UK.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Oxford University Press ().