HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS		QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) All Versions of this Article: AJPH.2005.076158v1 96/5/812    most recent Submit a response View Shopping Cart Alert me when this article is cited Alert me when eLetters are posted Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in Web of Science Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Web of Science (7) Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by James, S. A. Articles by Raghunathan, T. E. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by James, S. A. Articles by Raghunathan, T. E. Related Collections Epidemiology African Americans/Blacks Socioeconomic Factors Men's Health Cardiovascular Disease

Sherman A. James, PhD, John Van Hoewyk, PhD, Robert F. Belli, PhD, David S. Strogatz, PhD, David R. Williams, PhD and Trevillore E. Raghunathan, PhD

At the time this research was conducted, Sherman A. James was with the School of Public Health and Institute for Social Research at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Robert F. Belli is with the Department of Psychology at the University of Nebraska, Lincoln. David S. Strogatz is with the School of Public Health at the State University of New York, Albany. John Van Hoewyk, David R. Williams, and Trivellore E. Raghunathan are with the Institute for Social Research at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.

Correspondence: Requests for reprints should be sent to Sherman A. James, Terry Sanford Institute for Public Policy, Duke University, PO Box 90312, Durham, NC 27708 (e-mail: sjames{at}duke.edu).

Objectives. We investigated the odds of hypertension for Black men in relationship to their socioeconomic position (SEP) in both childhood and adulthood.

Methods. On the basis of their parents’ occupation, we classified 379 men in the Pitt County (North Carolina) Study into low and high childhood SEP. The men’s own education, occupation, employment status, and home ownership status were used to classify them into low and high adulthood SEP. Four life-course SEP categories resulted: low childhood/low adulthood, low childhood/high adulthood, high childhood/low adulthood, and high childhood/high adulthood.

Results. Low childhood SEP was associated with a 60% greater odds of hypertension, and low adulthood SEP was associated with a 2-fold greater odds of hypertension. Compared with men of high SEP in both childhood and adulthood, the odds of hypertension were 7 times greater for low/low SEP men, 4 times greater for low/high SEP men, and 6 times greater for high/low SEP men.

Conclusions. Greater access to material resources in both childhood and adulthood was protective against premature hypertension in this cohort of Black men. Though some parameter estimates were imprecise, study findings are consistent with both pathway and cumulative burden models of hypertension.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				S. Y. Angell, R. K. Garg, R. C. Gwynn, L. Bash, L. E. Thorpe, and T. R. Frieden Prevalence, Awareness, Treatment, and Predictors of Control of Hypertension in New York City Circ Cardiovasc Qual Outcomes, September 1, 2008; 1(1): 46 - 53. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				C. B. Roberts, A. I. Vines, J. S. Kaufman, and S. A. James Cross-Sectional Association between Perceived Discrimination and Hypertension in African-American Men and Women: The Pitt County Study Am. J. Epidemiol., March 1, 2008; 167(5): 624 - 632. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				S. Moody-Ayers, K. Lindquist, S. Sen, and K. E. Covinsky Childhood Social and Economic Well-Being and Health in Older Age Am. J. Epidemiol., November 1, 2007; 166(9): 1059 - 1067. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				A. Furumoto-Dawson, S. Gehlert, D. Sohmer, O. Olopade, and T. Sacks Early-Life Conditions And Mechanisms Of Population Health Vulnerabilities Health Aff., September 1, 2007; 26(5): 1238 - 1248. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				J. C. Lucove, J. S. Kaufman, and S. A. James Association Between Adult and Childhood Socioeconomic Status and Prevalence of the Metabolic Syndrome in African Americans: The Pitt County Study Am J Public Health, February 1, 2007; 97(2): 234 - 236. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				S. A. James, J. Van Hoewyk, R. F. Belli, D. S. Strogatz, D. R. Williams, and T. E. Raghunathan Life-Course Socioeconomic Position and Hypertension in African American Men: The Pitt County Study Am J Public Health, May 1, 2006; 96(5): 812 - 817. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]