SOCIOECONOMIC-STATUS AND RACIAL AND ETHNIC-DIFFERENCES IN FUNCTIONAL STATUS ASSOCIATED WITH CHRONIC DISEASES

Objectives. This. Study examined the relationships between wealth and income and selected racial and ethnic differences in health. Methods. Cross-sectional data on a national sample of 9744 men and women aged 5 1 through 61 from the 1992 Health and Retirement Survey were analyzed to examine the association between socioeconomic status and racial and ethnic differences in functional status among those with hypertension , diabetes, a heart condition, and arthritis. Results. Compared with W hites, African Americans report higher rates of hypertension, diabetes , and arthritis, while Hispanics report higher rates of hypertension a nd diabetes and a lower fate of heart conditions. Accounting for diffe rences in education, income, and wealth had little effect on these pre valence differences. In general, among those with chronic diseases, Af rican Americans and Hispanics reported worse function than Whites. Thi s disadvantage was eliminated in every case by controlling for socioec onomic status. Conclusions. While socioeconomic status, including weal th, accounts for much of the difference in functional status associate d with these chronic diseases, it plays a relatively small role in exp laining differences in the prevalence of chronic disease, possibly ref lecting different causal pathways.