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Racial Discrimination and Stigma Consciousness Are Associated with Higher Blood Pressure and Hypertension in Minority Men

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Journal of Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Objective

We examined whether lifetime racial discrimination and stigma consciousness (expecting to be stigmatized) are associated with blood pressure in minority and White middle-aged and older adult men.

Design

Participants were 1533 men (mean age = 63.2 [SD = 7.9, range = 37.4–89.2]; 12.4 % Black, 7.8 % Hispanic, 2.0 % other) diagnosed with clinically localized prostate cancer. We separately modeled associations between discrimination/stigma consciousness and blood pressure outcomes for minorities and Whites controlling for education, income, employment status, age, marital status, BMI, and recruitment site.

Results

Minorities reported more racial discrimination and stigma consciousness than Whites (ps < .001). For minorities, having experienced more racial discrimination was associated with having higher diastolic blood pressure (B = 0.15, p = .016) and having greater stigma consciousness was associated with greater odds of having hypertension (OR = 1.04, p = .047). Greater stigma consciousness was associated with lower systolic blood pressure in Whites (B = −0.24, p = .012).

Conclusion

Discrimination and stigma consciousness are associated with common risk factors for chronic disease and premature death that disproportionately affect minorities. Findings for stigma consciousness suggest that anticipatory vigilance may be impacting minority health.

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Acknowledgments

The Live Well Live Long! research group includes Integrated Medical Professionals, site-PI, Carl A. Olsson and CEO Deepak A. Kapoor; Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Institute, site-PI, Christian J. Nelson; Urology San Antonio, site-PI Juan A. Reyna; Houston Metro Urology, P.A., site-PI Zvi Schiffman, Roswell Park Cancer Institute, site-PI, Willie Underwood, III, and the University at Buffalo, site-PI, Heather Orom. We would like to acknowledge the cooperation and efforts of the staff and physicians at these sites for their significant contribution to participant recruitment. This work was supported by the National Cancer Institute under Grant R01#CA152425.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Community Health and Health Behavior, University at Buffalo, 3435 Main St., Buffalo, NY, 14214, USA

    Heather Orom, Chaman Sharma, Gregory G. Homish & D. Lynn Homish

  2. Department of Urology, Roswell Park Cancer Institute, Elm & Carlton Buffalo, Buffalo, NY, 14263, USA

    Willie Underwood III

Authors
  1. Heather Orom
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  2. Chaman Sharma
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  3. Gregory G. Homish
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  4. Willie Underwood III
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  5. D. Lynn Homish
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Heather Orom.

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Funding

This study was funded by R01#CA152425.

Conflicts of Interest

Heather Orom and Willie Underwood received a research grant from the National Cancer Institute R01#CA152425. Chaman Sharma, Gregory Homish, and D. Lynn Homish declare that they have no conflicts of interest.

Ethical Approval

All procedures performed in the studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki Declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

Informed Consent

Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

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Orom, H., Sharma, C., Homish, G.G. et al. Racial Discrimination and Stigma Consciousness Are Associated with Higher Blood Pressure and Hypertension in Minority Men. J. Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities 4, 819–826 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40615-016-0284-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40615-016-0284-2

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