142nd APHA Annual Meeting and Exposition

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311139
Relationships between chronic health conditions, functional limitations, and psychological distress among Black and White men

142nd APHA Annual Meeting and Exposition (November 15 - November 19, 2014): http://www.apha.org/events-and-meetings/annual
Wednesday, November 19, 2014

Julie Ober Allen, MPH , School of Public Health, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI
Daphne C. Watkins, PhD , 3841 Sswb, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI
Background: Gender and racial disparities in psychological distress, chronic health conditions, and functional limitations are well documented. Relationships between these variables are believed to be complex, yet they have not been established for men or compared for men of different racial groups.

Methods: Using data from 6,946 White and 1,067 Black men in the 2012 National Health Interview Survey, we used race-stratified regression analyses to examine the relationships between number of chronic health conditions, functional limitations, and psychological distress.

Results: Number of chronic conditions and functional limitations were independently associated with psychological distress for White and Black men at similar levels (p-values < .001). However, functional limitations moderated the relationship between chronic conditions and distress for Black men (p < .001) but not White men.

Conclusions: Chronic conditions and functional limitations affect psychological distress differently for Black and White men. Researchers have documented that Black men tend to have more poorly-controlled chronic conditions and more resultant functional limitations when compared to White men. This increases the likelihood that Black men will develop a constellation of chronic conditions and functional limitations that may interfere with their lives and be difficult to cope with. Consequently, Black men may be more likely to perceive their chronic conditions and functional limitations as a single stressor, and their reported distress may reflect this. More holistic approaches to reducing health-related psychological distress may be more responsive to men’s needs, particularly for Black men whose chronic health conditions and functional limitations interact in their association with distress.

Learning Areas:

Clinical medicine applied in public health
Diversity and culture
Epidemiology
Other professions or practice related to public health
Planning of health education strategies, interventions, and programs
Public health or related research

Learning Objectives:
Identify differences in the relationships between number of chronic health conditions, functional limitations, and psychological distress in a large sample of Black and White men in the U.S. Examine potential explanatory mechanisms for why functional limitations moderate the association between chronic health conditions and distress for Black men but not for White men.

Keyword(s): Men’s Health, Mental Health

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I am currently a doctoral student in Health Behavior and Health Education at the University of Michigan. My research focuses on how social determinants of health contribute to gender role strain and disparities in chronic disease, with a focus on African American men. I conducted the analyses presented in this paper.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.