Table 1.
Participant Characteristics, By Sex. National Survey of Midlife in the United States (MIDUS) Wave II 2004–2006 and Biomarker Project 2004–2009.
| Black Women | Black Men | Sex Differences | |
|---|---|---|---|
| % or M (SD) | % or M (SD) | p * | |
| Demographics | |||
| Age (years) | 54.43 (10.79) | 52.22 (9.27) | .113 |
| Education | |||
| No HS degree & no GED | 17.2 | 16.2 | 1.000 |
| HS degree/GED | 28.5 | 31.1 | . 756 |
| Some college | 33.8 | 35.1 | .882 |
| Bachelor’s degree | 20.5 | 17.6 | .721 |
| Currently working | 57.0 | 71.6 | .041 |
| Health | |||
| Tobacco use | 24.5 | 45.9 | .002 |
| Body mass index (BMI) (kg/m2) | 33.92 (9.01) | 30.38 (6.77) | .001 |
| Normal (BMI < 25) | 11.9 | 20.3 | .110 |
| Overweight (BMI 25–29.9) | 26.5 | 32.4 | .351 |
| Obese (BMI ≥ 30) | 61.6 | 47.3 | .046 |
| Health conditions | |||
| High blood pressure | 50.3 | 39.2 | .121 |
| Diabetes | 37.7 | 33.8 | .659 |
| Cardiovascular condition | 51.0 | 40.5 | .157 |
| Central nervous system medication | 53.0 | 48.6 | .572 |
| Depression | 37.7 | 28.4 | .182 |
| Chronic discrimination measures | |||
| Lifetime discrimination | 2.87 (2.79) | 3.31 (2.93) | .272 |
| Daily discrimination | 1.58 (.66) | 1.78 (.78) | .061 |
| Chronic job discrimination | 1.56 (.57) | 1.92 (.71) | <.001 |
| Perceived inequality at work | 1.92 (.69) | 1.94 (.57) | .846 |
| Inflammatory biomarkers | |||
| Total inflammatory burden | 2.09 (1.33) | 1.66 (1.33) | .024 |
| C-reactive protein (CRP), top quartile | 43.0 | 31.1 | .109 |
| interleukin-6 (IL-6), top quartile | 46.4 | 33.8 | .085 |
| fibrinogen, top quartile | 51.0 | 29.7 | .003 |
| E-selectin, top quartile | 34.4 | 44.6 | .146 |
| Intercellular adhesion molecule (ICAM), top quartile | 34.4 | 27.0 | .290 |
| Total N | 151 (67.1%) | 74 (32.9%) |
Note. HS = high school; GED = Graduate Equivalency Degree.
*
Bold test indicates p <.10.