Abstract
Health issues are a concern in Alabama’s Black Belt region, which runs across the southwestern part of the state and includes some of the poorest counties in the USA. As part of a Center for Disease Control (CDC)-sponsored study, we collected data covering several cancer (e.g., prostate, breast, skin) and other health-related indicators (e.g., stress, insurance, stroke, heart disease) from 647 predominantly African-American adults over the age of 50 in 20 communities in 7 Black Belt counties in 2005 and 2006. Here, we provide an account of the state of the health of older African-Americans and compare their outcomes to those of their White counterparts in the region. African-Americans report having generally lower levels of health and were less apt to have a cancer history (ps < 0.05) than the Whites in the region. Gender differences with respect to BMIs and smoking are also evident, with women having higher BMIs but lower levels of smoking. Physicians and researchers covering or interested in generally impoverished rural areas may find our results useful for comparative purposes.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Gosschalk Annie & Susan Carozza S (2003) Cancer in rural areas: a literature review. Rural Healthy People 2010: A companion document to Healthy People 2010. Volume 2. College Station, TX: The Texas A&M University System Health Science Center, School of Rural Health, Southwest Rural Health Research Center
Pfizer Inc (2005) Racial differences in cancer: a comparison of Black and White adults in the United States. http://www.pfizer.com/files/products/Racial_Differences_in_Cancer.pdf. Accessed 15 October 2014
National Cancer Intelligence Network (2011) The effect of rurality on cancer incidence and mortality. www.ncin.org.uk/databriefings. Accessed 14 October 2014
Alabama Department of Public Health (2004) Stroke and chronic disease in Alabama. Montgomery (AL): http://www.adph.org/ADMINISTRATION/chronicdisease.pdf. Accessed 28 September 2014
Winemiller TL (2009) Black Belt Region in Alabama; Alabama Encyclopedia. Last updated May 13, 2014
(U.S. Census, 2010) American fact finder [Internet]. 2010. Washington, DC: United States Census Bureau; [updated 2010 June 15]. http://factfinder.census.gov/. Accessed 21 July 2014
Alabama Health Disparities Status Report, (2010) ADPH Office of Minority Health http://www.astho.org/Programs/Health-Equity/Alabama-Health-Equity-Report. Accessed 27 July 2014
Kish L (1949) Procedure for objective respondent selection within the household. J Am Stat Assoc 44(247):380–387
Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance Survey [Internet] (2011) Atlanta (GA): Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Office of Surveillance, Epidemiology and Laboratory Sciences; [updated 2011 May 16]. http://www.cdc.gov/brfss/. Accessed 22 July 2014
Grootaert, Christiaan, Deepa Narayan, Veronica N. Jones, and Michael Woolcock (2004) Measuring social capital: an integrated questionnaire. World Bank Working Paper No. 18. Washington (DC): The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, The World Bank
Langner TS (1963) A twenty-two item screening score of psychiatric symptoms indicating impairment. J Health Hum Behav 3:269–276
Blumenthal MD (1967) Sex as a source of heterogeneity in a mental health survey. J Psychiatr Res 5:75–87
Muller A (2002) Education, income inequality, and mortality: a multiple regression analysis. BMJ 324:23
Jemal A, Siegel R, Ward E, Hao Y, Jiaquan X, Murray T, Thun MJ (2008) Cancer statistics, 2008. CA: Cancer J Clin 58:71–96. doi:10.3322/CA.2007.0010
Shavers VL, Brown ML (2002) Racial and ethnic disparities in the receipt of cancer treatment. J Natl Cancer Inst 94:334–357. doi:10.1093/jnci/94.5.334
Carroll WR, Kohler CL, Carter VL, Hannon L, Skipper JB, Rosenthal EL (2009) Barriers to early detection and treatment of squamous cell carcinoma in African-American men. Head and Neck 31(12):1557–1562. doi:10.1002/hed21125
Jones Beth A, Dailey A, Calvocoressi L, Reams K, Kasl SV, Lee C, Hsu H (2005) Inadequate follow-up of abnormal screening mammogram: findings from the race differences in screening mammography process study. Cancer Causes Control 16:809–821
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Lian, B., Schoenberger, YM. & Kohler, C. Older Adult Health in Alabama’s Black Belt Region. J Canc Educ 30, 642–647 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13187-014-0779-7
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13187-014-0779-7