Receipt of public assistance during childhood and hypertension risk in adulthood

• Type of Material: Article
• Authors: Debbie S. Barrington, Georgetown University; Sherman James, Emory University
• Language: English
• Date: 2017-02-01
• Publisher: Elsevier Masson
• Publication Version: Author Accepted Manuscript (After Peer Review)
• Copyright Statement: © 2016 Elsevier Inc.
• Final Published Version (URL): http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.annepidem.2016.11.012
• Title of Journal or Parent Work: Annals of Epidemiology
• ISSN: 1047-2797
• Volume: 27
• Issue: 2
• Start Page: 108
• End Page: 114
• Grant/Funding Information: The Pitt County Study was supported by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI/NIH) grants R01HL033211 and R01HL065645 to Dr. James.; This study was supported by the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NIMHD/NIH) grant K22MD006133 to Dr. Barrington.
• Keywords: Public policy; Life Sciences & Biomedicine; ASSOCIATION; PITT COUNTY; AFRICAN-AMERICAN MEN; Public, Environmental & Occupational Health; RETROSPECTIVE REPORTS; COURSE SOCIOECONOMIC POSITION; BLACK ADULTS; LIFE-COURSE; Poverty; BLOOD-PRESSURE CHANGE; CARDIOVASCULAR RISK; Hypertension; SOCIAL-CLASS; Science & Technology; Public assistance; African Americans
• Research Categories: Health Sciences, Public Health; Health Sciences, Epidemiology

Abstract

Purpose We examined if receipt of public assistance during childhood lowered risk for hypertension by mid-life in a cohort of African Americans in the Southeastern United States. Methods We used multiple logistic regression models to assess the relationship between receipt of public assistance during childhood and adult hypertension among 405 male and 737 female adult participants enrolled between 1988 and 2001 in the Pitt County Study, a community-based prospective cohort study of African Americans in North Carolina. Statistical analyses were adjusted for child and adult sociodemographic measures as well as adult psychosocial and lifestyle factors. Results Women who grew up in economically disadvantaged families and who received public assistance during childhood had a 66% decreased odds of hypertension by mid-life compared with women similarly disadvantaged in childhood but who did not receive public assistance, odds ratio = 0.34; 95% confidence interval: 0.14–0.83. No association was observed for African American men. Conclusions Receipt of anti-poverty federal assistance during childhood was associated with reduced risk for hypertension by mid-life among African American women. It is possible that social expenditures on public assistance programs for families in need could produce long-term health benefits for children.