Objective-To examine the association of perceived racial/ethnic discrimination with smoking and alcohol consumption in adults participating in the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis.Methods-Data on 6,680 black, Chinese, Hispanic and white adults aged 45 to 84 years of age recruited from Illinois, New York, Maryland, North Carolina, Minnesota and California during 2000 and 2002 were used for this analysis. Logistic regression was used to estimate the association of perceived racial/ethnic discrimination with smoking status and alcohol consumption for each racial/ ethnic group separately.Results-Blacks were more likely to experience racial/ethnic discrimination (43%) than Hispanics (19%), Chinese participants (10%) or whites (4%, P<0.0001). In the fully-adjusted model, blacks reporting racial/ethnic discrimination had 34% and 51% greater odds of reporting smoking and drinking, respectively, than blacks who did not report racial/ethnic discrimination. Hispanics reporting racial/ethnic discrimination had 62% greater odds of heavy drinking. Whites reporting racial/ethnic discrimination had 88% greater odds of reporting being current smokers than whites who did not report racial/ethnic discrimination.
Conflict of Interest Statement: NonePublisher's Disclaimer: This is a PDF file of an unedited manuscript that has been accepted for publication. As a service to our customers we are providing this early version of the manuscript. The manuscript will undergo copyediting, typesetting, and review of the resulting proof before it is published in its final citable form. Please note that during the production process errors may be discovered which could affect the content, and all legal disclaimers that apply to the journal pertain. Conclusions-Our findings suggest that the experience of discrimination is associated with greater prevalence of unhealthy behaviors. Specifically, the use of smoking and alcohol may be patterned by experience of discrimination.
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KeywordsRacial/ethnic discrimination; discrimination; smoking; alcohol; blacks; Hispanics; Chinese; whites Racial discrimination, a potentially important risk factor for adverse health outcomes, is differentially distributed across race/ethnicity (Williams, 1999, Williams and Collins, 1995, Krieger, 1999, Williams et al., 1997. Recent research reveals that at least 75% of blacks experience discrimination , Borrell et al., 2007. Moreover studies suggest that perceived racial discrimination is associated with poorer selfrated physical and mental health , Schulz et al., 2000b, Karlsen and Nazroo, 2002, Schulz et al., 2000a, Gee, 2002, Williams, 1999, Krieger, 1999, Paradies, 2006 and with adverse cardiovascular outcomes , Krieger and Sidney, 1996, Krieger, 1999, Wyatt et al., 2003, Troxel et al., 2003, Lewis et al., 2006. Although most of the evidence on the association between racial discrimination and health status pertains to blacks, there is evidence for other racial/ ethnic groups such as Hispanics and Asians , Paradies, 2006, Araujo and Borre...