Table 1.
Baseline Characteristics Comparing African Americans and Whites
| Variables | African Americans (n=255) | Whites (n=421) | P-value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Demographics | |||
| Age, yrs (M±SD) | 62.6 (8.8) | 65.7 (10.0) | <0.0001 |
| Gender (% female) | 58.0 | 29.0 | <0.0001 |
| Education (% ≤ 12 yrs) | 63.5 | 64.6 | 0.7 |
| Adequacy of income (% uncomfortable) | 73.5 | 66.0 | 0.04 |
| Employment status (% employed) | 19.6 | 20.0 | 0.9 |
| Insurance coverage (% ≥ 2 sources) | 50.6 | 49.8 | 0.8 |
| Recruitment site (% county hospital) | 63.9 | 29.7 | <0.0001 |
| Clinical Factors | |||
| Body mass index, kg/m2 (M±SD) | 34.4 (8.4) | 33.1 (8.0) | 0.03 |
| Index joint (% knee) | 80.0 | 75.8 | 0.2 |
| Comorbidity index (%) | 0.04 | ||
| ≥2 | 25 | 33 | |
| ≤1 | 75 | 67 | |
| Knee/hip pain* (M±SD) | 11.8 (3.4) | 11.5 (3.5) | 0.2 |
| Lower extremity function* (M±SD) | 40.0 (11.1) | 40.3 (10.4) | 0.7 |
| Medical management adequate (%) | 22.8 | 37.5 | <0.0001 |
| TJA appropriateness (%) | 0.4 | ||
| Appropriate | 25.2 | 25.2 | |
| Uncertain | 46.8 | 42.7 | |
| Inappropriate | 28.0 | 32.1 | |
| Health Beliefs | |||
| Benefits of TJA†(M±SD) | 9.5 (2.4) | 10.1 (2.0) | 0.001 |
| Barriers/risks from TJA† (M±SD) | 15.1 (3.7) | 14.1 (3.5) | 0.0006 |
| Perceived severity of OA† (M±SD) | 10.9 (2.6) | 10.9 (2.6) | 0.9 |
| Perceived susceptibility to OA progression† (M±SD) | 17.7 (3.8) | 17.6 (3.4) | 0.5 |
Abbreviations: OA = osteoarthritis; TJA = total joint arthroplasty; VA = Veterans Administration
*
From the Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index, ranges for the scales are 0-20 for pain and 0-68 for function; greater scores indicate more severe pain/dysfunction
†
From the Arthritis-Related Health Belief Instrument; greater scores indicating heightened perception of the target construct.