The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA

Abstract #71641

Teresa Janevic, MPH¹, Paul A. Landsbergis, PhD, MPH², Peter L. Schnall, MD, MPH³, and Maritza Jauregui, PhD³. (1) Department of Community and Preventive Medicine, Mt. Sinai School of Medicine, Box 1057, One Gustave L. Levy Place, New York, NY 10029-6574, 212-241-4571, tmj2101@columbia.edu, (2) Department of Community and Preventive Medicine, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, Box 1043, 1 Gustave E. Levy Place, New York, NY 10029-6574, (3) Center for Social Epidemiology, University of California at Irvine, Suite 525, 710 Wilshire Blvd., Santa Monica, CA 90401

While there is a growing body of literature on community studies investigating the health effects of racial discrimination, there is limited research on the effect of workplace racial discrimination on workers’ health. Some community studies suggest that the tendency to deny seeing oneself as the subject of racial discrimination is associated with higher blood pressure, while others report a positive association between perceived discrimination and blood pressure. It is not known if either of these associations is present in the workplace. Using data from a labor/management-funded study of work organization, job stressors and hypertension among 400 autoworkers, the relationship between perceived racial discrimination and workplace blood pressure will be examined. A self-administered questionnaire will be used to assess workers’ perception of the occurrence of discrimination by coworkers and supervisors on the basis of race or ethnicity. The questionnaire includes other measures of psychosocial working conditions as well as risk factors for hypertension and cardiovascular disease. Workers’ blood pressure will be measured while working using both ambulatory monitors and point measurements. We will report the results of multivariate regression analyses designed to investigate the association between self-reported racial discrimination and hypertension as well as other health outcomes, such as angina, depression, and anxiety.

Learning Objectives:

• After viewing this poster presentation, the viewer will be able to:
• 1)Identify the relationship between perceived racial discrimination at work and psychological health
• 2)Assess the association between perceived racial discrimination at work and blood pressure while working
• 3)Discuss personality characteristics of workers who feel they are the object of discrimination

Keywords: Stress, Occupational Health

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.