Racial Disparities in the Association between Alcohol Use Disorders and Health in Black and White Women

Biodemography Soc Biol. 2017;63(3):236-252. doi: 10.1080/19485565.2017.1335589.

Abstract

Adverse health attributed to alcohol use disorders (AUD) is more pronounced among black than white women. We investigated whether socioeconomic status (education and income), health care factors (insurance, alcoholism treatment), or psychosocial stressors (stressful life events, racial discrimination, alcoholism stigma) could account for black-white differences in the association between AUD and physical and functional health among current women drinkers 25 years and older (N = 8,877) in the National Epidemiological Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions. Generalized linear regression tested how race interacted with the association between 12-month DSM-IV AUD in Wave 1 (2001-2002) and health in Wave 2 (2004-2005), adjusted for covariates (age group, alcohol consumption, smoking, body mass index, physical activity, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and arthritis). Black women with AUD had poorer health than white women with AUD (β = -3.18, SE = 1.28, p < .05). This association was partially attenuated after adjusting for socioeconomic status, health care, and psychosocial factors (β = -2.64, SE = 1.27, p < .05). In race-specific analyses, AUD was associated with poorer health for black but not white women. Accounting for black-white differences in AUD and physical and functional health among women requires investigation beyond traditional explanatory mechanisms.

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Aged
  • Alcohol Drinking / epidemiology
  • Alcohol Drinking / ethnology
  • Alcoholism / epidemiology
  • Alcoholism / ethnology*
  • Black People / ethnology
  • Black People / statistics & numerical data*
  • Body Mass Index
  • Female
  • Health Status Disparities*
  • Hispanic or Latino / statistics & numerical data
  • Humans
  • Middle Aged
  • Multivariate Analysis
  • Racial Groups / ethnology
  • Racial Groups / statistics & numerical data
  • Social Class
  • White People / ethnology
  • White People / statistics & numerical data*