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BACKGROUND: Despite the existing literature on the central role of socioeconomic status (SES; education and income) for maintaining health, less is known about group differences in this effect. Built on the intersectionality approach, this study compared race by gender groups for the effects of baseline education and income on sustained health problems in five domains: depressive symptoms, insomnia, physical inactivity, body mass index (BMI), and self-rated health (SRH). METHODS: Data came from waves 7, 8, and 10 of the Health and Retirement Study (HRS), which were collected in 2004, 2006, and 2010, respectively. The study followed 37,495 white and black men and women above age 50 for up to 6 years. This number included 12,495 white men, 15,581 white women, 3839 black men, and 5580 black women. Individuals reported their depressive symptoms (Center for Epidemiological Studies-Depression (CES-D) 11), insomnia, physical inactivity, BMI, and SRH across all waves. Multigroup structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to compare black men, black women, white men, and white women for the effects of education and income in 2004 on sustained health problems from 2004 to 2010. RESULTS: In the pooled sample, higher education and income at baseline were associated with lower sustained health problems across all five domains. However, race by gender group differences were found in the effects of education and income on sustained insomnia, physical inactivity, and BMI, but not depressive symptoms and SRH. The protective effects of education against insomnia, physical inactivity, and BMI were not found for black men. For black women, the effect of education on BMI was not found. Income had a protective effect against sustained high BMI among white and black women but not white and black men. CONCLUSION: The intersection of race and gender alters the protective effects of social determinants on sustained health problems such as insomnia, physical inactivity, and BMI. Social groups particularly vary in the operant mechanisms by which SES contributes to maintaining health over time. The health effects are less universal for education than income. Race by gender groups differ more in SES determinants of BMI, insomnia, and physical inactivity than depressive symptoms and SRH.

RESUMEN

BACKGROUND: Compared to Whites, Blacks are exposed to higher levels of chronic stress in the United States. As a result, major Black-White differences exist in the baseline and response of cortisol. Yet, the potential association between baseline religiosity and subsequent cortisol levels of Blacks are not known. OBJECTIVES: In the current study we aimed to determine the association between baseline religious behaviors and daytime salivary cortisol level among male and female Black youth. MATERIALS AND METHODS: With a longitudinal design, data came from wave 1 (1994) and wave 6 (2000) of a cohort from an urban area in the Midwest of the United States. The study followed 227 Black adolescents (109 males and 118 females) for six years. Socio-demographics and religious behaviors (frequency of participation in religious activities) were measured at baseline. Base morning cortisol level at wave 6 was the outcome. We fitted a linear regression model to test the association between baseline religiosity at wave 1 and cortisol level at wave 6, while baseline age, socio-economics, and psychological symptoms were controlled. RESULTS: In the pooled sample, frequency of participation in religious activities at baseline was negatively associated with mean cortisol level at follow up (r = -0.29, P > 0.01) among all, males (r = -0.38, P > 0.01), but not females (r = -.20, P > 0.05). Frequency of participation in religious activities remained a significant predictor of subsequent cortisol level (b = -0.283, 95% CI = -.107 - -0.022) while the effect of age, socioeconomics, and psychological symptoms were controlled. We could only find such an association among male Black youth (b = -0.368, 95% CI = -0.148 - -0.024) but not female Black youth (b = -0.229, 95% CI = -.113 - 0.011). CONCLUSIONS: Religiosity has been used as a coping mechanism among Blacks. Religiosity may also be related to stress regulation among Black youth. Future studies need to test complex associations between race, sex, religiosity, chronic stress, coping, and function of hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenal (HPA). It is not known whether male Black youth who are and those who are not religious differently cope with stress associated with daily discrimination and living in disadvantaged neighborhoods.

RESUMEN

OBJECTIVES: Health-related quality of life after kidney transplant in adolescents is a major concern; nevertheless, there is a paucity of data on the variables that have an effect on it. This study evaluated the extent to which socioeconomic, clinical, and psychological characteristics explain the variance in the health-related quality of life of adolescent Iranian kidney transplant recipients. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Into a hierarchical regression analysis, the cross-sectional socioeconomic, clinical, and psychological characteristics were entered among 55 adolescent Iranian kidney transplant recipients. RESULTS: The relative predictive power of socioeconomic, clinical, and psychological variables with respect to health-related quality of life was 21.8% (P = .088), 21.2% (P = .014), and 27.6% (P = .001). CONCLUSIONS: Psychological factors had a greater relative predictive power in postrenal transplant health-related quality of life of adolescents than did socioeconomic and clinical characteristics. Further research should target improvement of health-related quality of life in adolescent kidney recipients by psychological intervention.

Asunto(s)

Fallo Renal Crónico/cirugía , Trasplante de Riñón/psicología , Salud Mental , Calidad de Vida , Factores Socioeconómicos , Adolescente , Niño , Estudios Transversales , Femenino , Humanos , Irán , Fallo Renal Crónico/psicología , Masculino , Análisis de Regresión , Encuestas y Cuestionarios , Resultado del Tratamiento

RESUMEN

BACKGROUND: By providing a picture from published articles in a field, bibliometric studies can inform policy-makers in their challenging research funding decisions. In this regard, we applied bibliometric analysis to the Iranian pediatrics articles published in PubMed indexed journals between 1975 and 2007. METHODS: We evaluated all pediatric articles that had been published from Iran in different PubMed indexed journals from 1975 to 2007. Journal data (i.e. date of publishing, journal name, impact factor of the journal, language), authors data (i.e. number of authors, international collaboration, affiliation of the corresponding author), and paper characteristics [i.e. type of article, research design, study population (neonate, infant, child, and adolescent), and specialty] were registered. RESULTS: During this period of time, 819 articles from Iran had been published in PubMed indexed journals, with a sharp increasing trend after 2002. Impact factors were up to 25.8. Paper had an international co-author in 13.7%. Regarding study population, 24.1% of studies were published on neonates, 23.6% on infants, and the remaining 66.3% of studies were performed on children and adolescents from 2 to 18 years old. Infectious disease was the most frequent area of research, followed by public health and metabolic disease. Original articles were the most frequent type (89.7%) of the published articles. Study design was cross-sectional in 51.2%, retrospective in 36.3%, and prospective in 11.6%. Clinical trials made up 4.8% of the total papers. CONCLUSIONS: Contribution of Iran in production of pediatrics science is showing a sharp increase after 2002, this pattern is in parallel with other research fields.