Table 1.
Characteristics and mean telomere length of Health Retirement Study respondents in the 2009 telomere sample, by race, reported discrimination experience, and analytic sample
| Characteristic | Overall | Non-Hispanic Black, No. (%) | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Major Lifetime Unfair Treatment | Everyday Discrimination | ||||||||
| Multivariable | CEM Weighted | Multivariable | CEM Weighted | ||||||
| Yes | No | Yes | No | Yes | No | Yes | No | ||
| Total | 550 | 266 | 284 | 70 | 70 | 358 | 192 | 60 | 52 |
| Telomere lengtha | 1.55 (1.13) | 1.53 (0.94) | 1.58 (1.29) | 1.41 (0.78) | 1.46 (0.58) | 1.53 (0.82) | 1.60 (1.56) | 1.32 (0.46) | 1.48 (0.57) |
| Sex | |||||||||
| Male | 197 (36) | 110 (41) | 87 (31) | 22 (31) | 20 (29) | 131 (37) | 66 (34) | 18 (30) | 19 (37) |
| Female | 353 (64) | 156 (59) | 197 (69) | 48 (69) | 50 (71) | 227 (63) | 126 (66) | 42 (70) | 33 (64) |
| Maternal education | |||||||||
| <12 y | 325 (59) | 145 (55) | 180 (63) | 51 (73) | 54 (77) | 215 (60) | 110 (57) | 45 (75) | 38 (73) |
| ≥12 y | 149 (27) | 88 (33) | 61 (21) | 11 (16) | 9 (13) | 93 (26) | 56 (29) | 9 (15) | 7 (13) |
| Missing | 76 (14) | 33 (12) | 43 (15) | 8 (11) | 7 (10) | 50 (14) | 26 (14) | 6 (10) | 7 (13) |
| Paternal education | |||||||||
| <12 y | 298 (54) | 147 (55) | 151 (53) | 52 (74) | 54 (77) | 206 (58) | 92 (48) | 41 (68) | 35 (67) |
| ≥12 y | 100 (18) | 53 (20) | 47 (17) | 7 (10) | 5 (7) | 55 (15) | 45 (23) | 7 (12) | 5 (10) |
| Missing | 152 (28) | 66 (25) | 86 (30) | 11 (16) | 11 (16) | 97 (27) | 55 (29) | 12 (20) | 12 (23) |
| Own education | |||||||||
| <High school degree | 178 (32) | 70 (26) | 108 (38) | 30 (43) | 31 (44) | 110 (31) | 68 (35) | 30 (50) | 26 (50) |
| High school degree/GED | 272 (49) | 135 (51) | 137 (48) | 37 (53) | 36 (51) | 174 (49) | 98 (51) | 29 (48) | 25 (48) |
| Associate’s, bachelor’s, or graduate degree | 100 (18) | 61 (23) | 39 (14) | 3 (4) | 3 (4) | 74 (21) | 26 (14) | 1 (2) | 1 (2) |
| Health as child | |||||||||
| Excellent/very good | 363 (66) | 177 (67) | 186 (65) | 54 (77) | 54 (77) | 224 (63) | 139 (72) | 46 (77) | 44 (85) |
| Good | 98 (18) | 42 (16) | 56 (20) | 11 (16) | 13 (19) | 67 (19) | 31 (16) | 10 (17) | 6 (12) |
| Fair/poor | 32 (6) | 18 (7) | 14 (5) | 2 (3) | 2 (3) | 23 (6) | 9 (5) | 1 (2) | 1 (2) |
| Missing | 57 (10) | 29 (11) | 28 (10) | 3 (4) | 1 (1) | 44 (12) | 13 (7) | 3 (5) | 1 (2) |
| Birth year | |||||||||
| Before 1921 | 18 (3) | 9 (3) | 9 (3) | 3 (4) | 2 (3) | 10 (3) | 8 (4) | 1 (2) | 2 (4) |
| 1921-1929 | 54 (10) | 22 (8) | 32 (11) | 5 (7) | 5 (7) | 34 (10) | 20 (10) | 3 (5) | 4 (8) |
| 1930-1934 | 83 (15) | 31 (12) | 52 (18) | 13 (19) | 13 (19) | 48 (13) | 35 (18) | 15 (25) | 9 (17) |
| 1935-1939 | 106 (19) | 53 (20) | 53 (19) | 15 (21) | 19 (27) | 66 (18) | 40 (21) | 15 (25) | 15 (29) |
| 1940-1944 | 110 (20) | 56 (21) | 54 (19) | 20 (29) | 20 (29) | 67 (19) | 43 (22) | 19 (32) | 13 (25) |
| 1945-1949 | 71 (13) | 38 (14) | 33 (12) | 5 (7) | 4 (6) | 52 (15) | 19 (10) | 2 (3) | 3 (6) |
| 1950-1954 | 85 (15) | 48 (18) | 37 (13) | 8 (11) | 6 (9) | 66 (18) | 19 (10) | 3 (5) | 4 (8) |
| After 1954 | 23 (4) | 9 (3) | 14 (5) | 1 (1) | 1 (1) | 15 (4) | 8 (4) | 2 (3) | 2 (4) |
| Birth region | |||||||||
| New England | 2 (<1) | 0 (0) | 2 (<1) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 1 (<1) | 1 (<1) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) |
| Mid-Atlantic | 41 (7) | 25 (9) | 16 (6) | 4 (6) | 4 (6) | 30 (8) | 11 (6) | 2 (3) | 2 (4) |
| East North Central | 30 (5) | 19 (7) | 11 (4) | 4 (6) | 2 (3) | 18 (5) | 12 (6) | 4 (7) | 2 (6) |
| West North Central | 21 (4) | 13 (5) | 8 (3) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 17 (5) | 4 (2) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) |
| South Atlanta | 241 (44) | 112 (42) | 129 (45) | 43 (61) | 40 (57) | 148 (41) | 93 (48) | 39 (65) | 34 (65) |
| East South Central | 115 (21) | 54 (20) | 61 (21) | 11 (16) | 14 (20) | 75 (21) | 40 (21) | 11 (18) | 8 (15) |
| West South Central | 86 (16) | 34 (13) | 52 (18) | 8 (11) | 10 (14) | 58 (16) | 28 (15) | 4 (7) | 6 (12) |
| Mountain | 3 (<1) | 1 (<1) | 2 (<1) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 2 (<1) | 1 (<1) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) |
| Pacific | 11 (2) | 8 (3) | 3 (1) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 9 (3) | 2 (1) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) |
| Total | 3318 | 1018 | 2300 | 532 | 890 | 1851 | 1467 | 800 | 773 |
| Telomere lengtha | 1.34 (0.59) | 1.31 (0.39) | 1.35 (0.66) | 1.34 (0.45) | 1.36 (0.87) | 1.35 (0.69) | 1.31 (0.44) | 1.35 (0.66) | 1.30 (0.37) |
| Sex | |||||||||
| Male | 1343 (40) | 499 (49) | 844 (37) | 232 (44) | 303 (34) | 791 (43) | 552 (38) | 303 (38) | 280 (36) |
| Female | 1975 (60) | 519 (50) | 1456 (63) | 300 (56) | 587 (66) | 1060 (57) | 915 (62) | 497 (62) | 493 (64) |
| Maternal education | |||||||||
| <12 y | 1620 (49) | 435 (43) | 1185 (52) | 227 (43) | 459 (52) | 861 (47) | 759 (52) | 403 (50) | 419 (54) |
| ≥12 y | 1485 (45) | 522 (51) | 963 (42) | 301 (57) | 426 (48) | 882 (48) | 603 (41) | 387 (49) | 345 (45) |
| Missing | 213 (6) | 61 (6) | 152 (7) | 4 (1) | 5 (1) | 108 (6) | 105 (7) | 10 (1) | 9 (1) |
| Paternal education | |||||||||
| <12 y | 1713 (52) | 459 (45) | 1254 (55) | 252 (47) | 495 (56) | 927 (50) | 786 (54) | 442 (55) | 457 (59) |
| ≥12 y | 1267 (38) | 452 (44) | 815 (35) | 273 (51) | 387 (43) | 738 (40) | 529 (36) | 3422 (43) | 303 (39) |
| Missing | 338 (10) | 107 (11) | 231 (10) | 7 (1) | 8 (1) | 186 (10) | 152 (10) | 16 (2) | 13 (2) |
| Own education | |||||||||
| <High school degree | 454 (14) | 95 (9) | 359 (16) | 30 (6) | 54 (6) | 230 (12) | 224 (15) | 65 (8) | 63 (8) |
| High school degree/GED | 1907 (58) | 561 (55) | 1346 (59) | 311 (58) | 612 (69) | 1067 (58) | 840 (57) | 521 (65) | 516 (67) |
| Associate’s, bachelor’s, or graduate degree | 957 (29) | 362 (36) | 595 (26) | 191 (36) | 224 (25) | 554 (30) | 403 (27) | 214 (27) | 194 (25) |
| Health as child | |||||||||
| Excellent/very good | 1850 (56) | 501 (50) | 1340 (58) | 322 (61) | 603 (68) | 984 (53) | 866 (59) | 519 (65) | 519 (67) |
| Good | 349 (11) | 97 (10) | 252 (11) | 14 (3) | 13 (1) | 191 (10) | 158 (11) | 32 (4) | 30 (4) |
| Fair/poor | 119 (4) | 46 (5) | 73 (3) | 7 (1) | 7 (1) | 76 (4) | 43 (3) | 7 (1) | 7 (1) |
| Missing | 1000 (30) | 365 (36) | 635 (28) | 189 (36) | 267 (30) | 600 (32) | 400 (27) | 242 (30) | 217 (28) |
| Birth year | |||||||||
| Before 1921 | 171 (5) | 25 (2) | 146 (6) | 10 (2) | 32 (4) | 73 (4) | 98 (7) | 44 (6) | 48 (6) |
| 1921-1929 | 522 (16) | 104 (10) | 418 (18) | 61 (11) | 141 (16) | 232 (13) | 290 (20) | 107 (13) | 134 (17) |
| 1930-1934 | 525 (16) | 125 (12) | 400 (17) | 62 (12) | 130 (15) | 268 (14) | 257 (18) | 114 (14) | 134 (17) |
| 1935-1939 | 644 (19) | 202 (20) | 442 (19) | 121 (23) | 190 (21) | 358 (19) | 286 (20) | 177 (22) | 171 (22) |
| 1940-1944 | 546 (16) | 183 (18) | 363 (16) | 106 (20) | 152 (17) | 306 (17) | 240 (16) | 145 (18) | 127 (16) |
| 1945-1949 | 430 (13) | 174 (17) | 256 (11) | 82 (15) | 116 (13) | 272 (15) | 158 (11) | 95 (12) | 79 (10) |
| 1950-1954 | 360 (11) | 151 (15) | 209 (9) | 76 (14) | 104 (12) | 251 (14) | 109 (7) | 99 (12) | 68 (9) |
| After 1954 | 120 (4) | 54 (5) | 66 (3) | 14 (3) | 25 (3) | 91 (5) | 29 (2) | 19 (2) | 12 (2) |
| Birth region | |||||||||
| New England | 191 (6) | 60 (6) | 131 (6) | 22 (4) | 27 (3) | 95 (5) | 96 (7) | 30 (4) | 28 (4) |
| Mid-Atlantic | 551 (17) | 180 (18) | 371 (16) | 98 (18) | 159 (18) | 298 (16) | 253 (17) | 162 (20) | 141 (18) |
| East North Central | 792 (24) | 244 (24) | 548 (24) | 175 (33) | 297 (33) | 458 (25) | 334 (23) | 250 (31) | 230 (30) |
| West North Central | 489 (15) | 131 (13) | 358 (16) | 72 (14) | 146 (16) | 267 (14) | 222 (15) | 114 (14) | 123 (16) |
| South Atlanta | 433 (13) | 122 (12) | 311 (14) | 57 (11) | 96 (11) | 242 (13) | 191 (13) | 93 (12) | 94 (12) |
| East South Central | 219 (7) | 67 (7) | 152 (7) | 30 (6) | 42 (5) | 120 (6) | 99 (7) | 42 (5) | 39 (5) |
| West South Central | 284 (9) | 85 (8) | 199 (9) | 31 (6) | 53 (6) | 157 (8) | 127 (9) | 55 (7) | 59 (8) |
| Mountain | 109 (3) | 38 (4) | 71 (3) | 8 (2) | 13 (2) | 65 (4) | 44 (3) | 12 (2) | 17 (2) |
Abbreviations: CEM, coarsened exact matching; GED, general equivalency diploma.
aMean (standard deviation).