PSYCHOLOGICAL & PHYSICAL HEALTH IN ARTHRITIC BLACKS

本研究的目的是系统地研究老年非裔美国人的关节炎残疾与心理和身体健康之间的关系。与年长的白种人相比，年长的非裔美国人被诊断出患有更多的慢性疾病，更有可能在生命早期被诊断出来，并且更容易因疾病而丧失能力。考虑到慢性病的增加，研究老年非裔美国人的生理和心理健康结构之间的伴随关系是很重要的。为了理解这种关系，提出了几个研究问题：1)人口统计学因素（如年龄、性别和社会经济地位）与老年非裔美国人对关节炎的疾病严重程度、疼痛和功能损害的认知之间是否存在关联？2)与未患关节炎的成年人相比，患有关节炎的成年人是否报告更多的抑郁和躯体症状？3)关节炎疾病的部位和类型是否影响抑郁和躯体症状的报告？研究这些研究问题计划有五个具体目标：1)收集150名50岁及以上的非裔美国人的数据；2)研究人口统计学因素、抑郁症状、功能障碍、疼痛和疾病严重程度之间的相互关系；3)评价人口因素与身心健康关系的发展方向；4)检查关节炎残疾的类型和部位；疾病严重程度、痛觉、功能障碍和抑郁症状之间的关系；5)评估疾病严重程度、疼痛感知和抑郁症状相关的个体方差。本研究强调了承认少数民族老年人不同的生活经历、健康状况和共病的重要性，这可能会导致他们的关节炎残疾经历的个体差异。

The objective of the proposed study is to systematically examine the relationship between arthritic disability and the psychological and physical health among older African Americans. Compared to elderly Caucasians, older African Americans are disproportionately diagnosed with more chronic diseases, are more likely to be diagnosed earlier in life, and are more incapacitated from the disease. Considering the increase in chronic illnesses, it is important to examine the concomitant relationship between the physical and mental health constructs among older African Americans. In understanding this relationship, several research questions have been proposed: 1) Is there an association between demographic factors (e.g. age, gender, and SES) and perceptions of disease severity, pain, and functional impairment due to arthritis among older African Americans?; 2) Do arthritic adults report more depressive and somatic symptoms compared to non arthritic adults?; and 3) Does location and type of arthritic disorder influence reports of depressive and somatic symptoms? Five specific aims are planned to examine these research questions: 1) To collect data from 150 African Americans 50 years of age and older; 2) To examine the intercorrelations between demographic factors, depressive symptoms, functional impairment, and pain and disease severity; 3) To assess the direction of the relationship between demographic factors and physical and psychological health; 4) To examine the type of arthritic disability and location; and the relationship between disease severity, pain perception, functional impairment, and depressive symptoms; and 5) To assess the amount of individual variance associated in disease severity, pain perception and depressive symptoms. This research addresses the importance of acknowledging that different life experiences, health, and comorbidity experienced by minority elderly may create sources of individual variation in their experience of arthritic disability.