Effects of Perceptions of Racial Discrimination and Lifestyle on Health Outcomes in Mississippi: Is One Confounding the Other?

Introduction In Mississippi, even though health indices are significantly less favorable than national levels, the rates for Blacks are much more unfavorable than white rates, which are generally comparable to the national rates (Mississippi State Department of Health 2007). Income, employment, and health status have been linked to race. However, while many relationships have been identified, it is unclear whether individual behavior is an intermediate or primary causal factor, when analyzing the impact of perceptions of discrimination on health outcomes. We analyze relationships of individual lifestyle and perceptions of discrimination with perception of health, diabetes and STD/HIV.

Methods Using a sample of 5,257 respondents, we examine the 2004 BRFSS data for the state of Mississippi to determine if there were any associations between perception of racial discrimination, lifestyle, self-reported health status, diabetes mellitus and sexually transmitted disease/HIV. We specifically defined and examined: 1. Perceptions of Racial Discrimination; 2. Lifestyle and 3. Specific Health Outcomes and 4. Perceptions of health status. Using multivariate logistic regression modeling, we differentiate between lifestyle behaviors stemming from perception of racial discrimination and those that are not, and their relationships with specific health outcomes.

Results Results show that there are significant relationships between perceptions of racial discrimination and lifestyle. However, lifestyle also had significant associations. Controlling between the two independent variables indicated that perceptions of racial discrimination retained significant effects on health status.