Abstract
Allostatic load (AL)—the biological assessment of long-term exposure to stress—may explain mortality-rate disparities among non-Hispanic Black (Black) men. We aimed to investigate AL among Black men with equivalent education status after controlling for income. A cross-sectional study was employed to investigate AL among 4113 Black men who participated in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey between 1999–2018. A summation of 8 biomarker factors were used to compute AL, differences in socio-demographic characteristics by education status were evaluated, and health behaviors that may influence AL were examined. To determine the high-risk thresholds for each AL component, we examined each component’s distribution among NHB men for whom complete biomarker data were available in the NHANES sample. High-risk thresholds were determined as either (1) above the 75th percentile for body mass index (BMI), diastolic blood pressure (DBP), glycated hemoglobin, systolic blood pressure (SBP), total cholesterol, and serum triglycerides; or (2) below the 25th percentile for serum albumin and serum creatinine. Modified Poisson regression models were used to estimate prevalence ratios and their associated 95% confidence intervals for high AL risk while adjusting for potential confounders. Black men with a high school diploma/GED had a greater prevalence of high AL compared with Black men who had other levels of education, and a slightly higher prevalence of high AL compared with Black men who had less than a high school education. Black men with college degrees had a lower prevalence of high AL than Black men with the lowest levels of educational attainment. Researchers must further examine the hidden costs stemming from the interplay between discrimination associated with being Black in America and systemic racism in the educational system—which may be preventing Black men from achieving optimal health.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Article number | 3580 |
| Journal | International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health |
| Volume | 19 |
| Issue number | 6 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Mar 1 2022 |
Bibliographical note
Publisher Copyright:© 2022 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.
Funding
Funding: This research was supported by 5 For The Fight, Huntsman Cancer Institute, and the V Foundation for Cancer Research; by the National Cancer Institute (NCI) under Grant K01CA234319; by the National Institute on Aging (NIA) under Grant K02AG059140; and by the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NIMHD) under Grants K01MD015304 and U54MD000214. NCI, NIA, and NIMHD are entities of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the NIH. This research was supported by 5 For The Fight, Huntsman Cancer Institute, and the V Foundation for Cancer Research; by the National Cancer Institute (NCI) under Grant K01CA234319; by the National Institute on Aging (NIA) under Grant K02AG059140; and by the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NIMHD) under Grants K01MD015304 and U54MD000214. NCI, NIA, and NIMHD are entities of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the NIH.
| Funders | Funder number |
|---|---|
| National Institutes of Health (NIH) | |
| National Institute on Aging | K02AG059140 |
| National Childhood Cancer Registry – National Cancer Institute | K01CA234319 |
| V Foundation for Cancer Research | |
| National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NIMHD) | U54MD000214, K01MD015304 |
| Huntsman Cancer Institute |
Keywords
- Allostasis
- Health equity
- Men’s health
- Social determinants of health
- Socioeconomic factors
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Pollution
- Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health
- Health, Toxicology and Mutagenesis
