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Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Chronic Conditions among Adults and Older Adults: Second Edition

A special issue of International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (ISSN 1660-4601). This special issue belongs to the section "Health Behavior, Chronic Disease and Health Promotion".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 April 2023) | Viewed by 5550

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Cassandra D. Ford

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Capstone College of Nursing, The University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL 35487, USA
Interests: cardiovascular disease; health disparities; rural; underserved populations; aging
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Ronica N. Rooks

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Health and Behavioral Sciences, University of Colorado Denver, P.O. Box 173364, CB 188, Denver, CO 80217, USA
Interests: aging; chronic conditions; health disparities; neighborhood environment; and social determinants of health
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Arlesia L. Mathis

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Institute of Public Health, Florida A&M University, 1515 MLK Boulevard, Tallahassee, FL 32307, USA
Interests: health disparities; minority health; access to care; aging
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues, 

The biggest contributor to the increased prevalence of chronic conditions in the United States of America (USA) is population aging, where people with chronic conditions use more healthcare and have higher risks of taking multiple medications, disability, and mortality. Chronic health conditions are defined as those conditions that last a year or more and require ongoing medical attention and/or limit activities of daily living. The number of adults with multiple chronic conditions, e.g., asthma, arthritis, cancer, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, depression, type II diabetes, heart disease, obesity, kidney disease, stroke, cognitive and physical functioning difficulties, is growing not only in the USA, but worldwide. 

A disproportionate burden of chronic conditions exists among racial and ethnic minorities, lower socioeconomic status adults, and older adults. Pervasive racial and ethnic disparities in chronic conditions exist in the USA and other countries. Racial and ethnic minorities are likely to develop chronic conditions earlier in life, live with a higher number of chronic conditions, and are at greater risk of dying from their chronic conditions than white adults. However, we know less about the pathways or mechanisms connecting race and ethnicity to multiple chronic conditions, longitudinal research on managing these conditions, or population-level interventions to address racial and ethnic disparities in chronic conditions. We encourage empirical research on race or ethnicity and chronic conditions, in the USA or internationally, using quantitative, qualitative, or mixed methods which speak to the following (not exhaustive or limiting) list of topics:

  • Incorporating the social determinants of health with biomedical frameworks.
  • Examining pathways linking individual, interpersonal, and/or structural determinants to chronic conditions.
  • Intersectionality of race or ethnicity with age, gender, socioeconomic status, place, sexuality, etc., as part of existing pathways influencing chronic conditions.
  • The prevalence of multiple chronic conditions or comorbidity and people’s experiences managing them (i.e., self-care and medical care).
  • Family health history influencing health behaviors related to chronic conditions.
  • Health information seeking and use behaviors related to chronic conditions.
  • Current or future health care workforce needs to provide the best care for patients with chronic conditions.
  • Creating prevention, intervention, and/or policy solutions to reduce racial and ethnic disparities in chronic conditions.
  • Long-term effects of COVID-19, particularly among older adults .

Authors are invited to submit abstracts related to the topic areas described above. The guest editors will review all abstracts to assess for topic appropriateness and scientific rigor. Authors of high-scoring abstracts will be invited to submit a complete manuscript for anonymous peer review by the guest editors and additional peer reviewers. Please submit a 400-word structured abstract for initial review. 

Dr. Cassandra D. Ford
Dr. Ronica N. Rooks
Dr. Arlesia L. Mathis
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2500 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • Race or ethnicity
  • Chronic conditions
  • Comorbidity
  • Adults, middle-aged, or older adults
  • Social determinants of health
  • Inequalities or inequities
  • Prevention or intervention
  • Policy
  • Intersectionality
  • Health care access

Related Special Issue

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

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13 pages, 646 KiB  
Article
Longitudinal Analysis of Social Isolation and Cognitive Functioning among Hispanic Older Adults with Sensory Impairments
by Corinna Trujillo Tanner, Jeremy Yorgason, Avalon White, Chresten Armstrong, Antonia Cash, Rebekah Case and Joshua R. Ehrlich
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2023, 20(15), 6456; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph20156456 - 27 Jul 2023
Viewed by 1307
Abstract
Objectives: Understanding the intersection of age, ethnicity, and disability will become increasingly important as the global population ages and becomes more diverse. By 2060, Hispanics will comprise 28% of the U.S. population. This study examines critical associations between sensory impairment, social isolation, and [...] Read more.
Objectives: Understanding the intersection of age, ethnicity, and disability will become increasingly important as the global population ages and becomes more diverse. By 2060, Hispanics will comprise 28% of the U.S. population. This study examines critical associations between sensory impairment, social isolation, and cognitive functioning among Hispanic older adults. Methods: Our sample consisted of 557 Hispanic older adults that participated in Rounds 1–3 or Rounds 5–7 of the National Health and Aging Trends Study. Longitudinal mediation models across a three-year span were estimated using Mplus, with vision, hearing, and dual sensory impairments predicting cognitive functioning directly and indirectly through social isolation. Results: Findings indicated that cognitive functioning was concurrently and, in certain cases, longitudinally predicted by vision and dual sensory impairments and by social isolation. Contrary to expectations, vision and hearing impairments were not predictive of social isolation. Dual sensory impairment was associated with social isolation, yet no significant indirect associations were found for sensory impairments predicting cognitive functioning through social isolation. Discussion: The finding that social isolation did not mediate the relationship between sensory impairment and cognitive decline among Hispanic older adults in the U.S. is contrary to findings from other studies that were not specifically focused on this population. This finding may be evidence that culturally motivated family support and intergenerational living buffer the impact of sensory impairments in later life. Findings suggest that Hispanic older adults experiencing dual sensory impairments may benefit from interventions that foster social support and include family members. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Chronic Conditions among Adults and Older Adults: Second Edition)
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15 pages, 2016 KiB  
Article
Leading Predictors of COVID-19-Related Poor Mental Health in Adult Asian Indians: An Application of Extreme Gradient Boosting and Shapley Additive Explanations
by Mohammad Ikram, Nazneen Fatima Shaikh, Jamboor K. Vishwanatha and Usha Sambamoorthi
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2023, 20(1), 775; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph20010775 - 31 Dec 2022
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 1689
Abstract
During the COVID-19 pandemic, an increase in poor mental health among Asian Indians was observed in the United States. However, the leading predictors of poor mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic in Asian Indians remained unknown. A cross-sectional online survey was administered to [...] Read more.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, an increase in poor mental health among Asian Indians was observed in the United States. However, the leading predictors of poor mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic in Asian Indians remained unknown. A cross-sectional online survey was administered to self-identified Asian Indians aged 18 and older (N = 289). Survey collected information on demographic and socio-economic characteristics and the COVID-19 burden. Two novel machine learning techniques-eXtreme Gradient Boosting and Shapley Additive exPlanations (SHAP) were used to identify the leading predictors and explain their associations with poor mental health. A majority of the study participants were female (65.1%), below 50 years of age (73.3%), and had income ≥ $75,000 (81.0%). The six leading predictors of poor mental health among Asian Indians were sleep disturbance, age, general health, income, wearing a mask, and self-reported discrimination. SHAP plots indicated that higher age, wearing a mask, and maintaining social distancing all the time were negatively associated with poor mental health while having sleep disturbance and imputed income levels were positively associated with poor mental health. The model performance metrics indicated high accuracy (0.77), precision (0.78), F1 score (0.77), recall (0.77), and AUROC (0.87). Nearly one in two adults reported poor mental health, and one in five reported sleep disturbance. Findings from our study suggest a paradoxical relationship between income and poor mental health; further studies are needed to confirm our study findings. Sleep disturbance and perceived discrimination can be targeted through tailored intervention to reduce the risk of poor mental health in Asian Indians. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Chronic Conditions among Adults and Older Adults: Second Edition)
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Review

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13 pages, 498 KiB  
Review
Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Chronic Stress among Male Caregivers
by Christine Unson, Anuli Njoku, Stanley Bernard and Martin Agbalenyo
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2023, 20(12), 6188; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph20126188 - 20 Jun 2023
Viewed by 1560
Abstract
Whereas research on caregiving is well documented, less is known about gender inequalities in caregiver stress, coping mechanisms, and health outcomes, all of which may vary by race, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status. This scoping review investigated racial and ethnic disparities using the Stress [...] Read more.
Whereas research on caregiving is well documented, less is known about gender inequalities in caregiver stress, coping mechanisms, and health outcomes, all of which may vary by race, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status. This scoping review investigated racial and ethnic disparities using the Stress Process Model among male caregivers. Several databases were searched including Academic Search Premier, Medline Complete, APA PsycInfo, CINHAL, Google, ProQuest, and Web of Science. Included were peer-reviewed articles in English, published from 1990 to 2022. A total of nine articles fulfilled inclusion criteria. Most of the articles indicated that compared to White male caregivers, African American male caregivers provided more hours of care, assisted with more activities of daily living (ADLs) and instrumental activities of daily living (IADLs), and experienced more financial stress. In terms of coping style, one study found African American male caregivers, compared to White male caregivers, held negative religious beliefs. Another study showed that they were at a higher risk for stroke than their White counterparts. The search revealed a dearth of studies on racial disparities in stress, coping, and health outcomes among male caregivers. Further research is needed on the experiences and perspectives of male minority caregivers. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Chronic Conditions among Adults and Older Adults: Second Edition)
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