Midterm 3 Flashcards
(143 cards)
Basic Patterns in Racial Disparities:
- Found from birth to death
- Disparities in mortality are found in varying causes of death
- Disparities are dynamic: some have grown over time, but a few have declined or, indeed, disappeared
Suspected Mechanisms of Racial Disparities:
- Socioeconomic advantages, including SES and subsequent health behavior
- Differences in the effects of these advantages
- Institutions that perpetuate disadvantages
- Genetics
Most studies investigating racial disparities are based upon ____________.
self-identified race/ethnicity
What does it mean that self-identified race/ethnicity is a surrogate of many things?
Self-identified race is indicative of culture, genetics, and the social determinants of health. All of these things impact health or disease.
Are the genetics of populations different?
There is a case to be made for genetic differences across the world. Take for example certain genetic diseases that are specifically inflicting a race such as Tay Sachs in Ashkenazi Jews. However, the value of continental race as a classification is limited.
Human genetic variation does not naturally aggregate into subgroups that match human conceptions of racial categories.
What are examples of diseases that impact specific races?
Tay Sachs - Ashkenzai Jews
Sickle Cell Anemia - African Americans
Crohn’s Disease - Japanese
Why isn’t there a great basis for continental race classification?
Because the molecular variance when the world is split into 7 regions is 3.6%
Life expectancy of white and black males at birth over time (does the disparity increase or decrease?):
1900:
White Male- 46.6
Black Male- 32.5
Difference = 14.1
1950:
White Male- 66.5
Black Male- 59.1
Difference = 7.4
2007:
White Male- 75.9
Black Male- 70
Difference = 5.9
The disparity is decreasing over time (albeit the rate is slowing).
Life expectancy of white and black females at birth over time (does the disparity increase or decrease?):
1900:
White Female- 48.7
Black Female- 33.5
Difference = 15.2
1950:
White Female- 72.2
Black Female- 62.9
Difference = 9.3
2007:
White Female- 80.8
Black Female- 76.8
Difference = 4
Disparity is decreasing over time
Disparity Mortality trends:
- Disparity gap in life expectancy at birth is closing over time, albeit at a slower rate.
- Gap in life expectancy at birth used to be wider for women but now is wider for men.
- Gap in life expectancy at 65 is still present. Shows that this disparity is seen at all ages. The difference is smaller than for life expectancy at birth.
Trend between black female and white male life expectancy at birth:
Black female life expectancy only just recently went above white male. They had been equal for some time (which is messed up considering females live longer)
What are period effects?
Time periods where improvements are much slower versus time where improvement is rapid.
What is crossover?
That as age increases a certain point comes where the death rate of whites (in both sexes) surpasses the death rate of minorities.
Survival of the fittest?
There is poor data quality among older African Americans
What are the 1 and 2 leading causes of death in all races?
Diseases of the Heart
Malignant Neoplasms
Trends with leading causes of death by race:
- Blacks are disproportionately affected by assault and homicide
- Whites are disproportionately affected by Alzheimer’s Disease
- Blacks are disproportionately affected by HIV
What conditions are more important in their contribution to racial disparities in health?
- Cardiovascular Disease
- HIV
- Trauma
- Diabetes
Trends with infant mortality rates among races:
- Blacks have an extremely high infant mortality rate in comparison to whites and all other races
- Hispanics grouped together have the same infant mortality rate to whites, however when broken into specific ethnic groups some Hispanic groups have much higher infant mortality
- Asian Pacific Islander similar to white
- American Indian/Alaskan Native has higher infant mortality than Whites
What is the relationship between size of disparity and severity of disease?
Largest disparities exist in the leading causes of death
In diseases like the flu and pneumonia the small disparities that existed have been virtually eliminated
Size if disparity basically increases with severity of disease
What can eliminate a large disparity?
The application of a widely diffused technology can eliminate a large disparity in health because variations in motivation, knowledge, and resources play a smaller role in such cases.
P sure this is how the flu disparity was eliminated.
Relationship between race and self reported health:
Blacks report worse self rated health across the board
Morbidity trends by race
Blacks have more than whites:
- High Blood Pressure
- Diabetes
- Heart Conditions (in women specifically)
- Stroke (in men specifically)
- Arthritis
- Asthma
- Stomach Ulcers
- Kidney and bladder issues
Whites have more than blacks:
- Cancer (even moreso in women, about equal for men)
- Lung Disease
- Heart Conditions (in men specifically)
- High Cholesterol
- Poor eye sight
- Back Problems
- Emotional and psych problems
Relationship between mental illness and race
Hispanics and non-Hispanic Blacks had lower risk for common internalizing disorders
There is apparently a presence of “protecting factors” that originate from childhood. Have greater persistance
Relationship between race and sources of care:
Racial differences in the quality of care and source of care, but not necessarily the amount of care.
Shocking, whites go to private doctors 92% whereas Blacks go to private doctors 77% and then have a mix of family health centers, hospital outpatient department and a bit more ER than whites
Explain race differences in morbidity:
Behavior vs. SES
Blacks have a higher relative risk for many big diseases (SES impacts behavior)
Recall results regarding SES and mortality
(Blacks are more uninsured)