Social class and racial differences in blood pressure.

Syme, S. Leonard; Oakes, T.W.; Friedman, Gary D.; Feldman, Robert; Siegelaub, Abraham B.; Collen, Morris F.

doi:10.2105/ajph.64.6.619

Cited by 81 publications

(18 citation statements)

References 3 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Some US studies have suggested that socioeconomic factors can explain much of the difference in blood pressure between blacks and whites. 36 - 37 There is a class gradient in blood pressure in UK Europeans, 38 but standardizing for housing tenure or social class did not account for blood pressure differences.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Resting and ambulatory blood pressure differences in Afro-Caribbeans and Europeans.

Chaturvedi¹,

McKeigue²,

Marmot³

1993

Hypertension

174

142

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

To investigate why mortality from stroke in people of Afro-Caribbean origin is twice the average for England and Wales, we examined 1166 European and Afro-Caribbean people in London. Age-standardized median systolic blood pressure was 6 mm Hg higher (128 versus 122 mm Hg) in Afro-Caribbean than European men and 17 mm Hg higher (135 versus 118 mm Hg) in Afro-Caribbean than European women. Migrants from West Africa and the Caribbean had similar blood pressures. Body mass index was higher in Afro-Caribbean than European women, accounting for 4 mm Hg of the systolic difference. Diabetes prevalence was 16% in Afro-Caribbeans and 5% in Europeans (P<.001), accounting for 1 mm Hg of the difference in systolic pressure in men and 2 mm Hg in women. In participants not taking antihypertensive medication, mean fall in ambulatory systolic pressure between daytime and nighttime, adjusted for resting blood pressures, was 24 mm Hg in Europeans and 18 mm Hg in Afro-Caribbeans (P=.O5), and percent day-night fall in systolic blood pressure adjusted for resting systolic pressure was 17% in Europeans and 12% in Afro-Caribbeans (P<.05). This difference persisted when men and women and normotensive and hypertensive individuals were examined separately. We estimate that the differences in blood pressure between Afro-Caribbeans and Europeans may be enough to account for ethnic differences in stroke mortality in women but not men. The reasons for the high prevalence of hypertension and related morbidity in this and other populations of African descent remain to be established. (Hypertension 1993;22:90-96) KEY WORDS • blood pressure, ambulatory • ethnic groups • cerebrovascular disorders B lack populations in the United States, the Caribbean, and the United Kingdom share similar high mortality rates from cerebrovascular disease 1 -2 and have higher blood pressures than European populations.3 " 7 However, comparative studies of AfroCaribbeans with Europeans in the United Kingdom have failed to demonstrate consistent differences in blood pressure required to explain mortality differences. Caribbean-born migrants to England and Wales have twice the mortality from stroke and four times (in men) to seven times (in women) the mortality from hypertensive disease compared with the national average. -12Similar differences in mortality between African Americans and whites have been reported from the United States, 1 where death rates from stroke are two times and from hypertensive disease 3.5 times greater than the national average. Using data from the Whitehall cohort study of cardiovascular risk factors and mortality in British civil servants, 13 we estimated that a difference of 20 mm Hg in systolic blood pressure between AfroCaribbean and European men would be required to explain the observed relative risk of 1.8 in stroke

show abstract

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Resting and ambulatory blood pressure differences in Afro-Caribbeans and Europeans.

Chaturvedi¹,

McKeigue²,

Marmot³

1993

Hypertension

174

142

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…These data, also from the Kaiser-Permanente Study (22), are shown in Table 3. While members of the Kaiser-Permanente Health Plan are not necessarily representative of the nation, previous studies of this group have shown that they are similar to the general population of California except for people in the extreme high and low socioeconomic groups (23).…”

Section: Rationale For a Social Approach To Cigarette Smoking Behaviormentioning

confidence: 91%

Control of Cigarette Smoking from a Social Perspective

Syme

Alcalay

1982

Annu. Rev. Public Health

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Cigarette smoking is a behavior of individuals. Individuals begin to smoke, they become regular smokers, and they quit smoking. As we all recognize, however, this individual behavior occurs in a social and cultural context.If we wish to discourage the initiation of smoking and encourage the cessa tion of smoking once established, we must consider both the individual and social dimensions of this behavior. To date, most attention on smoking has been focused on the individual-his motivations and perceptions, his need for information, and his disease risks. In this paper we propose to review some of the ways in which social and cultural forces influence the initiation and establishment of smoking behavior as well as to suggest ways in which these same forces may be used to intervene and prevent smoking.

show abstract

“…Blacks are known to be two to four times more likely than whites to develop hypertension by middle age (Comstock, 1957;Fries, 1973;Stamler et al, 1967;National Center for Health Statistics, 1977). Males, early in adult life, are at higher risk than females (Fries, 1973;National Center for Health Statistics, 1977); and persons with low levels of formal education are more susceptible to hypertension than better-educated individuals (Dyer et al, 1976;Hypertension Detection and Follow-Up Program, 1977;Keil et al, 1977;National Center for Health Statistics, 1977;Syme et al, 1974).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…These insights provided by Manuck et aL (1978) are highly relevant to the current study. In addition to clarifying the circumstances wherein active coping will lead to autonomic arousal, they provide an important clue as to why education is almost always inversely associated with blood pressure in epidemiologic studies (see Dyer et al, 1976;Hypertension Detection and Follow-Up Program, 1977;Syme et al, 1974) and also suggest why John Henryism, at lower levels of education, can by hypothesized to add to the risk for developing elevated blood pressure. In industrialized societies, complex problem-solving and communication skills-gained chiefly through the formal education process-are essential for the successful performance of many job-related tasks and routine commercial transactions.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

John Henryism and blood pressure differences among black men

1983

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

A community probability sample of southern working-class, black men (N = 132) between 17 and 60 years of age was administered a scale to measure the degree to which they felt they could control their environment through hard work and determination. Since the legend of John Henry--the famous, black steeldriver of American folklore--can be understood as a cultural statement about how black Americans must often attempt to control behavioral stressors through hard work and determination, items for the scale were developed to reflect the theme of John Henryism. It was hypothesized that men scoring below the median on education but above the median on John Henryism would have higher blood pressures than any other group. The data were in line with the prediction, in that men who scored low on education and high on John Henryism had significantly higher diastolic blood pressures than men who scored above the median on both measures. Study findings are discussed in terms of the meaning that education and John Henryism may have for raising or lowering autonomic arousal when individuals encounter behavioral stressors in everyday life.

show abstract

Social class and racial differences in blood pressure.

Cited by 81 publications

References 3 publications

Resting and ambulatory blood pressure differences in Afro-Caribbeans and Europeans.

Resting and ambulatory blood pressure differences in Afro-Caribbeans and Europeans.

Control of Cigarette Smoking from a Social Perspective

John Henryism and blood pressure differences among black men

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About