Background Many details of the negative relationship between perceived racial/ethnic discrimination and health are poorly understood. Purpose The purpose of this study was to examine racial/ ethnic differences in the relationship between perceived discrimination and self-reported health, identify dimensions of discrimination that drive this relationship, and explore psychological mediators. Methods Asian, Black, and Latino(a) adults (N=734) completed measures of perceived racial/ethnic discrimination, self-reported health, depression, anxiety, and cynical hostility. Results The association between perceived discrimination and poor self-reported health was significant and did not differ across racial/ethnic subgroups. Race-related social exclusion and threat/harassment uniquely contributed to poor health for all groups. Depression, anxiety, and cynical hostility fully mediated the effect of social exclusion on health, but did not fully explain the effect of threat. Conclusions Our results suggest that noxious effects of race-related exclusion and threat transcend between-group differences in discriminatory experiences. The effects of race-related exclusion and threat on health, however, may operate through different mechanisms.

Background: It is unclear to what extent interarm blood pressure (BP) differences are reproducible vs the result of random error. The present study was designed to resolve this issue. Methods: We enrolled 147 consecutive patients from a hypertension clinic. Three sets of 3 BP readings were recorded, first using 2 oscillometric devices simultaneously in the 2 arms (set 1); next, 3 readings were taken sequentially for each arm using a standard mercury sphygmomanometer (set 2); finally, the readings as performed for set 1 were repeated (set 3). The protocol was repeated at a second visit for 91 patients.

The WCE may not just be limited to that narrow interval in which the patient actually sees the physician, but may generalize to the clinic setting, rendering a clinic 'resting' level invalid. While it is strongly positive in most hypertensive patients, it is frequently negative in normotensive patients. Our results suggest that improved methods of measuring blood pressure in the clinic setting are unlikely to resolve the confounding influence of the WCE, and that greater reliance will need to be placed on out-of-office monitoring.

Our results provide empirical support to the hypothesis that anxiety and blood pressure expectancy may elevate clinic blood pressure.

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