Early and Mid-Life Social Determinants of Racial Disparities in Late-Life Health

描述(由申请人提供)：拟议研究的总体目标是研究老年黑人和白人之间健康差距的童年和中年社会决定因素。这项研究将在四个生物学结果中评估晚年健康的种族差异：血压、血糖控制、亚临床脑血管疾病和炎症。之所以选择这些结果，是因为它们与健康方面的种族差异以及预防晚年残疾和认知障碍有关。这项研究将侧重于个人社会资源(如教育、职业状况)和居住环境社会状况(如出生县一级的社会经济状况、成年期间的社区隔离)，并审查这些在老年之前经历的社会资源和状况在多大程度上造成老年健康方面的种族差异。这项研究还将测试晚年健康状况的种族差异是否会影响该人群的血糖控制水平。尽管美国老年人的整体健康状况普遍改善，但在晚年健康方面的种族差异仍然很大且普遍存在。在生活的早期阶段，社会资源和条件方面的种族差异可能是缓解这些差异的一个重要因素。这项研究的结果将有助于更好地理解导致老年健康方面种族差异的社会和生物机制，为减少并最终消除老年黑人和白人之间的健康差异的政策和战略奠定基础。与公共健康相关：尽管美国老年人的总体健康状况普遍改善，但老年健康方面的种族差异仍然很大且普遍存在。晚年健康方面的种族差异可能取决于社会资源和早年经历的状况，但这对预防老年残疾和认知障碍具有重要意义。这项研究的一个重要优点是，它将利用有关大多数感兴趣的社会和生物因素的详细信息。这一信息来自于一项正在进行的对大量老年黑人和白人进行的队列研究。这项研究的结果有望更好地理解导致老年健康方面种族差异的社会和生物机制，为减少并最终消除老年黑人和白人之间的健康差异的政策和战略创造基础。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The overall goal of the proposed study is to examine childhood and mid-life adulthood social determinants of health disparities between older blacks and whites. The study will assess racial disparities in late-life health in four biological outcomes: blood pressure, glycemic control, sub-clinical cerebrovascular disease, and inflammation. These outcomes were selected because of their relevance for racial disparities in health and the prevention of late-life disability and cognitive impairment. The study will focus on personal social resources (e.g., education, occupational status), and residential environment social conditions (e.g., birth county level of socio-economic status, neighborhood segregation during adulthood), and examine the degree to which these social resources and conditions experienced prior to older age account for racial disparities in late-life health. The study will also test whether racial disparities in late-life health ablood specimens in this population which are needed to obtain a measure of glycemic control. Despite general improvements in overall health among older adults in the US, racial disparities in late-life health continue to be large and pervasive. Racial differences in social resources and conditions in earlier stages of life are likely to be an important factor in alleviating these disparities. Findings from this study will provide a better understanding of the social and biological mechanisms that contribute to racial disparities in late-life health, creating a foundation for policies and strategies to reduce and ultimately eliminate health disparities between older blacks and whites. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: Despite general improvements in overall health among older adults in the US, racial disparities in late-life health continue to be large and pervasive. Racial differences in late- life health are likely to depend on social resources and conditions experienced earlier in life, butmportance to the prevention of disability and cognitive impairment in old age. An important strength of the study is that it will take advantage of the availability of detailed information on most social and biological factors of interest. This information is derived from an ongoing cohort study in a large population of older blacks and whites. Findings from this study are expected to provide a better understanding of the social and biological mechanisms that contribute to racial disparities in late-life health, creating a foundation for policies and strategies to reduce and ultimately eliminate health disparities between older blacks and whites.