Angelina R Sutin1, Yannick Stephan2, Henry Carretta3, Antonio Terracciano3. 1. Florida State University College of Medicine, Tallahassee, FL. Electronic address: angelina.sutin@med.fsu.edu. 2. University of Montpellier, Montpellier, France. 3. Florida State University College of Medicine, Tallahassee, FL.
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: To examine whether perceived discrimination based on multiple personal characteristics is associated with physical, emotional, and cognitive health concurrently, prospectively, and with change in health over time among older adults. DESIGN: Longitudinal. SETTING: Health and Retirement Study (HRS). PARTICIPANTS: Participants (N = 7,622) who completed the Leave-Behind Questionnaire as part of the 2006 HRS assessment (mean age 67 years); participants (N = 6,450) completed the same health measures again in 2010. MEASUREMENTS: Participants rated their everyday experience with discrimination and attributed those experiences to eight personal characteristics: race, ancestry, sex, age, weight, physical disability, appearance, and sexual orientation. At both the 2006 and 2010 assessments, participants completed measures of physical health (subjective health, disease burden), emotional health (life satisfaction, loneliness), and cognitive health (memory, mental status). RESULTS: Discrimination based on age, weight, physical disability, and appearance was associated with poor subjective health, greater disease burden, lower life satisfaction, and greater loneliness at both assessments and with declines in health across the four years. Discrimination based on race, ancestry, sex, and sexual orientation was associated with greater loneliness at both time points, but not with change over time. Discrimination was mostly unrelated to cognitive health. CONCLUSIONS: The detrimental effect of discrimination on physical and emotional health is not limited to young adulthood but continues to contribute to health and well-being in old age. These effects were driven primarily by discrimination based on personal characteristics that change over time (e.g., age, weight) rather than discrimination based on more stable characteristics (e.g., race, sex).
OBJECTIVE: To examine whether perceived discrimination based on multiple personal characteristics is associated with physical, emotional, and cognitive health concurrently, prospectively, and with change in health over time among older adults. DESIGN: Longitudinal. SETTING: Health and Retirement Study (HRS). PARTICIPANTS: Participants (N = 7,622) who completed the Leave-Behind Questionnaire as part of the 2006 HRS assessment (mean age 67 years); participants (N = 6,450) completed the same health measures again in 2010. MEASUREMENTS: Participants rated their everyday experience with discrimination and attributed those experiences to eight personal characteristics: race, ancestry, sex, age, weight, physical disability, appearance, and sexual orientation. At both the 2006 and 2010 assessments, participants completed measures of physical health (subjective health, disease burden), emotional health (life satisfaction, loneliness), and cognitive health (memory, mental status). RESULTS: Discrimination based on age, weight, physical disability, and appearance was associated with poor subjective health, greater disease burden, lower life satisfaction, and greater loneliness at both assessments and with declines in health across the four years. Discrimination based on race, ancestry, sex, and sexual orientation was associated with greater loneliness at both time points, but not with change over time. Discrimination was mostly unrelated to cognitive health. CONCLUSIONS: The detrimental effect of discrimination on physical and emotional health is not limited to young adulthood but continues to contribute to health and well-being in old age. These effects were driven primarily by discrimination based on personal characteristics that change over time (e.g., age, weight) rather than discrimination based on more stable characteristics (e.g., race, sex).
Authors: Marco Innamorati; Maurizio Pompili; Cristina Di Vittorio; Stefano Baratta; Vittoria Masotti; Annalisa Badaracco; Yeates Conwell; Paolo Girardi; Mario Amore Journal: Am J Geriatr Psychiatry Date: 2013-07-24 Impact factor: 4.105
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