Discrimination Against African American Women in the Workplace

Abstract

Few studies have examined the impact of the frequency of discrimination on hypertension risk. The authors assessed the cross-sectional associations between frequency of perceived racial and nonracial discrimination and hypertension among 1,110 middle-aged African-American men (n = 393) and women (n = 717) participating in the 2001 follow-up of the Pitt County Study (Pitt County, North Carolina). Odds ratios were estimated using gender-specific unconditional weighted logistic regression with adjustment for relevant confounders and the frequency of discrimination. More than half of the men (57%) and women (55%) were hypertensive. The prevalence's of perceived racial discrimination, nonracial discrimination, and no discrimination were 57%, 29%, and 13%, respectively, in men and 42%, 43%, and 15%, respectively, in women. Women recounting frequent nonracial discrimination versus those reporting no exposure to discrimination had the highest odds of hypertension (adjusted odds ratio = 2.34, 95% confidence interval: 1.09, 5.02). A nonsignificant inverse odds ratio was evident in men who perceived frequent exposure to racial or nonracial discrimination in comparison with no exposure. A similar association was observed for women reporting perceived racial discrimination. These results indicate that the type and frequency of discrimination perceived by African-American men and women may differentially affect their risk of hypertension.

Table of Contents

Abstract2

Introduction4

Research Question4

Sample4

Experimental Design5

Statistical Test7

Conclusion7

References9

Discrimination Against African American Women in the Workplace

Introduction

In the United States, the prevalence of hypertension continues to rise, especially among Blacks, despite moderate improvements in the treatment and control of hypertension (1, 2). For example, from 1988-1994 to 1999-2002, in nationally representative samples of Blacks and Whites aged 20 years or older, the prevalence of hypertension increased from 33.9 percent to 38.6 percent in Black men and from 37.6 percent to 44.0 percent in Black women (3). In comparison with Blacks, the increases among White men (from 24.4 percent to 26.6 percent) and women (from 24.2 percent to 29.6 percent) remained significantly lower in both time periods (3). While obesity (4, 5), physical inactivity (6, 7), socioeconomic status (3), and access to quality health care (8-10) undoubtedly explain some of the residual differences in Black Americans' elevated risk of hypertension, there is a growing interest in elucidating the potentially causal role of less traditional risk factors, particularly discrimination(Greene, 2011).

Research Question

Is there any association between perceived discrimination and hypertension in African-American Men and Women at workplace?

Sample

Data for this study came from the 2001 follow-up survey of African Americans in the Pitt County Study, carried out in Pitt County, North Carolina. The Pitt County Study was initiated in 1988 for the purpose of identifying social, economic, and behavioral precursors of hypertension and related disorders among African Americans aged 25-50 years at baseline. Neighborhoods containing middle-class African-American households were oversampled in order to achieve an economically diverse study population. Of the 2,225 race- and age-eligible persons, 1,773 (80 percent; 661 men and 1,112 women) were interviewed .

In 2001, household interviews were sought with all cohort members believed to be alive, noninstitutionalized, and residing within a 100-mile (160-km) radius of ...