Each unit increase in racism-related vigilance was associated with a 4% increase in the odds of hypertension among Black adults (OR 1.04; 95% CI 1.00-1.09), with no association observed in Whites.
Cross-Sectional (n=3,105)
Is anticipatory stress (racism-related vigilance) associated with increased hypertension prevalence in Black, Hispanic, and White adults?
Anticipatory stress (vigilance) is associated with increased odds of hypertension among Black adults, highlighting a unique source of chronic stress that may contribute to racial health disparities.
Effect estimate: OR 1.04 (95% CI 1.00, 1.09)
OBJECTIVES: We investigated the association between anticipatory stress, also known as racism-related vigilance, and hypertension prevalence in Black, Hispanic, and White adults. METHODS: We used data from the Chicago Community Adult Health Study, a population-representative sample of adults (n = 3105) surveyed in 2001 to 2003, to regress hypertension prevalence on the interaction between race/ethnicity and vigilance in logit models. RESULTS: Blacks reported the highest vigilance levels. For Blacks, each unit increase in vigilance (range = 0-12) was associated with a 4% increase in the odds of hypertension (odds ratio OR = 1.04; 95% confidence interval CI = 1.00, 1.09). Hispanics showed a similar but nonsignificant association (OR = 1.05; 95% CI = 0.99, 1.12), and Whites showed no association (OR = 0.95; 95% CI = 0.87, 1.03). CONCLUSIONS: Vigilance may represent an important and unique source of chronic stress that contributes to the well-documented higher prevalence of hypertension among Blacks than Whites; it is a possible contributor to hypertension among Hispanics but not Whites.
Hicken et al. (Thu,) conducted a cross-sectional in Hypertension (n=3,105). Anticipatory stress (racism-related vigilance) was evaluated on Hypertension prevalence (OR 1.04, 95% CI 1.00, 1.09). Each unit increase in racism-related vigilance was associated with a 4% increase in the odds of hypertension among Black adults (OR 1.04; 95% CI 1.00-1.09), with no association observed in Whites.