Depression Treatment Status of Economically Disadvantaged African American Older Adults

Cobb, Sharon; Bazargan, Mohsen; Sandoval, Jessica Castro; Wisseh, Cheryl; Evans, Meghan C; Assari, Shervin

doi:10.3390/brainsci10030154

Cited by 6 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 89 publications

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“…All participants had at least one chronic medical condition and were aged sixty-five or older. For more information on the methodology of this study, please see our previous publications [ 21 , 22 , 23 , 24 , 25 ]. The sample size included 724 individuals (116 Latinx and 608 Black).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Chronic medical conditions (CMCs) included: (1) stomach or intestinal problems; (2) asthma or bronchitis; (3) arthritis; (4) hypertension/high blood pressure; (5) heart diseases; (6) diabetes; (7) chronic back pain; (8) cancer; (9) endocrine conditions and thyroid problems; (10) stroke; and (11) migraine/headache. The number of CMCs was measured by asking whether participants have been diagnosed with the conditions listed above [ 21 , 22 , 23 , 24 , 25 ].…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Number of Chronic Medical Conditions and Quality of Life of Ethnic Minority Older Adults

Cobb

Najand²,

Gravidez

et al. 2022

Geriatrics

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Background: The Blacks’ mental health paradox is defined as disproportionately better mental health among Black individuals compared to White individuals, despite their higher exposure to a wide range of adversities. However, the existing literature on this phenomenon is mainly limited to studies that have compared Black and White individuals. There has been little research on this phenomenon among ethnic groups other than Whites. Objectives: This study tested the Blacks’ mental health paradox with consideration of Latinx individuals as the control group. Methods: This cross-sectional study collected demographic data, socioeconomic status, chronic medical conditions, and mental and physical quality of life of 724 older Black and Latinx adults residing in low socioeconomic areas of south Los Angeles. Linear regressions were used for data analysis with mental and physical health-related quality of life (HRQoL) as dependent variables and the number of chronic medical conditions as the independent variable. Results: Overall, a higher number of chronic medical conditions was associated with lower mental and physical quality of life. A statistically significant interaction was found between race/ethnicity and the effect of the number of chronic medical conditions on mental HRQoL, which was indicative of Blacks’ mental health paradox. Conclusion: Older Black adults with a higher number of chronic medical conditions report better mental health compared to their Latinx peers with the same number of chronic medical conditions. Thus, Blacks’ mental health paradox can be seen when Black and Latinx populations are compared. Replication of such a paradox provides additional support for the relative mental health advantage of Black people compared to other ethnic groups.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Number of Chronic Medical Conditions and Quality of Life of Ethnic Minority Older Adults

Cobb

Najand²,

Gravidez

et al. 2022

Geriatrics

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show abstract

“…For more information on methodology of this study, please see our previous publications. [19][20][21][22][23] The sample size was 734 individuals (118 Latino and 616 African American).…”

Section: Participants and Samplingmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The number of CMCs was measured by asking whether participants have been diagnosed with the conditions listed above. [19][20][21][22][23] Outcome SRH was measured using conventional single-item measure. Poor SRH was coded as 1, and fair, good, very good, and excellent health was coded as 0.…”

Section: Independent Variablementioning

confidence: 99%

Ethnic Variation in the Association Between Objective and Subjective Health in Older Adults

Assari

Najand²,

Bazargan

2022

Int J Travel Med Glob Health

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Introduction: The African Americans’ health paradox can be defined as better subjective health held of African American individuals compared to White individuals, despite their higher objective and medical adversities such as chronic medical conditions (CMCs). This phenomenon depicts African Americans’ relative resilience (advantage). However, most of the existing literature on this topic is limited to studies comparing African Americans and Whites. There is little research, if any, on this phenomenon among other ethnic groups. To fill this gap in the literature, this study tests the African Americans’ health paradox with consideration of Latinos as the control group. Methods: This cross-sectional study collected demographic data, socioeconomic status, CMCs, and subjective health of 734 African American and Latino older adults residing in south Los Angeles. Logistic regression was used for data analysis. Results: 118 Latino and 616 African Americans entered our study. Overall, a higher number of CMCs was associated with lower subjective health, however, a statistically significant interaction between ethnicity and the number of CMCs suggested that this association is weaker for African Americans than Latinos, which is the African American health paradox. Conclusion: African Americans with a higher number of CMCs report better subjective health compared to Latinos with the same number of CMCs. This finding is indicative of a relative advantage of African Americans compared to other ethnic groups.

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“…1 As an increasing number of Americans are diagnosed with depression annually, 2 there is a growing number of studies documenting a substantial number of patients that are unable to receive treatment. 3,4 Researchers have documented how depression may affect various aspects of patients' lives, such as lower employment rates, job productivity, and disrupted family function. [5][6][7] Unfortunately, prior research has shown that low-income populations observe challenges in receiving access to mental health care.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Association Between Social Support and PHQ-4 Scores at a Student-Run Free Clinic

Kunta,

Katoju,

Barnes

et al. 2023

J Stud Run Clin

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Background: Student-run free clinics (SRFCs) can provide quality mental health care to low-income and uninsured populations who are at a greater risk of depression. Evidence demonstrates the association between social support and severity of depression, but this relationship has not been analyzed in an SRFC. Thus, we assessed the association between social support and depressive symptoms.Methods: We used electronic health records data for patients from 2013-2020 (n=2,501 patients). The dependent variable was severity of depression symptoms as determined by scores on the patient health questionnaire-4 (PHQ-4). Higher PHQ-4 scores correspond to increased severity of depression. The main predictor was the patient's social support, which was defined by their employment status, marital status, and the number of individuals in their household. We conducted a multinomial regression model to control for other patient-level factors (i.e. race, sex, and age).Results: When controlling for other factors, patients with higher social support scores had lower odds of scoring a 4 on the PHQ-4 (Odds ratio [OR]=0.838, 95% Confidence interval (CI)=0.770-0.912). When examining specific social support sources, when compared to patients who reported being not-married, those who were married had lower odds of scoring a 4 on the PHQ-4 (OR=0.578, 95% CI=0.401-0.833). Compared to patients who reported being employed, those who were unemployed had greater odds of scoring a 4 on the PHQ-4 (OR=2.323, 95% CI=1.766-3.055). We observed no significant differences in PHQ-4 by the number of people in the household.Conclusion: Patients with greater social support were associated with fewer depressive symptoms. Specifically, employment status and marital status may be larger contributors to a patient’s social support. Our results allow SRFCs to offer interventions such as investing in social work programs and community partnerships that offer professional development and employment opportunities to patients.

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Depression Treatment Status of Economically Disadvantaged African American Older Adults

Cited by 6 publications

References 89 publications

Number of Chronic Medical Conditions and Quality of Life of Ethnic Minority Older Adults

Number of Chronic Medical Conditions and Quality of Life of Ethnic Minority Older Adults

Ethnic Variation in the Association Between Objective and Subjective Health in Older Adults

Association Between Social Support and PHQ-4 Scores at a Student-Run Free Clinic

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