"Weathering" and Age Patterns of Allostatic Load Scores Among Blacks and Whites in the United States
Arline T. Geronimus, ScD,
Margaret Hicken, MPH,
Danya Keene, MAT and
John Bound, PhD
Arline T. Geronimus, Margaret Hicken, and Danya Keene are with the Department of Health Behavior and Health Education and the Population Studies Center, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. John Bound is with the Department of Economics and the Population Studies Center, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, and the National Bureau of Economic Research, Cambridge, Mass.
Correspondence: Requests for reprints should be sent to Arline T. Geronimus, Department of Health Behavior and Health Education, University of Michigan School of Public Health, 1420 Washington Heights, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-2029 (e-mail: arline{at}umich.edu).
Objectives. We considered whether US Blacks experience earlyhealth deterioration, as measured across biological indicatorsof repeated exposure and adaptation to stressors.
Methods. Using National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveydata, we examined allostatic load scores for adults aged 1864years. We estimated probability of a high score by age, race,gender, and poverty status and Blacks odds of havinga high score relative to Whites odds.
Results. Blacks had higher scores than did Whites and had agreater probability of a high score at all ages, particularlyat 3564 years. Racial differences were not explainedby poverty. Poor and nonpoor Black women had the highest andsecond highest probability of high allostatic load scores, respectively,and the highest excess scores compared with their male or Whitecounterparts.
Conclusions. We found evidence that racial inequalities in healthexist across a range of biological systems among adults andare not explained by racial differences in poverty. The weatheringeffects of living in a race-conscious society may be greatestamong those Blacks most likely to engage in high-effort coping.
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