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PubMed1981

Human chromosomal heteromorphisms in American blacks. III. Evidence for racial differences in RFA color and QFQ intensity heteromorphisms.

One hundred normal American Blacks (B) were studied by sequential QFQ and RFA banding techniques in order to estimate the type and frequency of heteromorphisms. Color heteromorphisms were classified into one of six colors by RFA and intensity variation into one of five levels by QFQ. The data are compared with a previously studied Caucasian population (C). The frequencies of QFQ and RFA heteromorphisms were significantly higher in the Black than in the Caucasian population. No racial difference was noted for chromosome 21 by QFQ, while RFA demonstrated a clear difference. It is concluded that the maximum characterization of racial differences of human chromosomal heteromorphisms was far greater by RFA than with QFQ. The present study suggests differences in QFQ and RFA heteromorphisms among the two races.

Black People↗
PubMed1991

Racial differences in the relation between blood pressure and insulin resistance.

BACKGROUND: Insulin resistance and the concomitant compensatory hyperinsulinemia have been implicated in the pathogenesis of hypertension. However, reports on the relation between insulin and blood pressure are inconsistent. This study was designed to investigate the possibility of racial differences in this relation. METHODS: We studied 116 Pima Indians, 53 whites, and 42 blacks who were normotensive and did not have diabetes; the groups were comparable with respect to mean age (29, 30, and 31 years, respectively) and blood pressure (113/70, 111/68, and 113/68 mm Hg, respectively). Insulin resistance was determined by the euglycemic-hyperinsulinemic clamp technique during low-dose (40 mU per square meter of body-surface area per minute) and high-dose (400 mU per square meter per minute) insulin infusions. RESULTS: The Pima Indians had higher fasting plasma insulin concentrations than the whites or blacks (176, 138, and 122 pmol per liter, respectively; P = 0.002) and lower rates of whole-body glucose disposal during both the low-dose (12.7, 17.1, and 19.5 mmol per minute; P less than 0.001) and the high-dose (38.0, 43.1, and 45.7 mmol per minute; P less than 0.001) insulin infusions. After adjustment for age, sex, body weight, and percentage of body fat, mean blood pressure (calculated as 1/3 systolic pressure + 2/3 diastolic pressure) was significantly correlated with the fasting plasma insulin concentration (r = 0.42) and the rate of glucose disposal during the low-dose (r = -0.41) and high-dose (r = -0.49) insulin infusions (P less than 0.01 for each) in whites, but not in Pima Indians (r = -0.06, -0.02, and -0.04, respectively) or blacks (r = -0.10, -0.04, and 0.02, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: The relations between insulinemia, insulin resistance, and blood pressure differ among racial groups and may be mediated by mechanisms active in whites, but not in Pima Indians or blacks.

Adult↗
PubMed1999

Racial differences in free radical scavenging enzyme activity in children.

Oxygen-derived free radicals play an important role in multiple pediatric neurologic diseases. Five intracellular free radical scavenging enzymes and three trace elements provide a significant portion of the body's defenses against free radical-mediated injury. Although the effects of age, sex, and ethnicity on the body's antioxidant defenses have been described, no study has examined whether racial differences exist. This pilot study sought to determine the effect of racial differences on the activity of five free radical scavenging enzymes and the concentrations of three associated trace elements in normal, healthy American children. The erythrocyte and plasma activities of five major free radical scavenging enzymes (glutathione peroxidase, glutathione reductase, glutathione-S-transferase, catalase, and superoxide dismutase) and plasma concentrations of three associated trace elements (selenium, copper, and zinc) were determined for 83 healthy American children, aged 1 to 18 years. One- and two-way interactions of race, age, and sex with each dependent variable were analyzed. African-Americans had higher erythrocyte glutathione peroxidase activity, erythrocyte superoxide dismutase activity, and selenium and copper concentrations than Caucasians. Racial inequalities do exist in free radical scavenging enzyme activity and trace element concentration in healthy children. African-American children had higher activity in the two most important free radical scavenging enzymes used by the brain compared to age- and sex-matched Caucasian children. Future clinical research in free radical-mediated pediatric neurologic diseases needs to consider race along with age and sex in both study design and data analysis.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1993

Racial differences in risk of oral and pharyngeal cancer: alcohol, tobacco, and other determinants.

BACKGROUND: In the United States, Blacks have increasingly higher rates of oral and pharyngeal cancer (oral cancer) than Whites, but determinants of the racial disparity have not been clear. PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to explore reasons for the higher incidence of oral cancer among Blacks than Whites. METHODS: We used data from a large, population-based case-control study of oral cancer risk factors conducted in four areas of the United States. On the basis of interviews that ascertained characteristics of 1065 oral cancer patients (871 Whites and 194 Blacks) and 1182 controls (979 Whites and 203 Blacks), we examined racial differences in exposure prevalences and relative risks for a number of known etiologic factors, including tobacco and alcohol consumption, diet, and socioeconomic and other variables. To evaluate the extent to which the major risk factors explained the excess risk of oral cancer among Blacks, population-attributable risks were calculated. RESULTS: Differences with respect to alcohol consumption, especially among current smokers, emerged as the most important explanatory variables. After adjusting for smoking, heavy drinking (> or = 30 drinks/week) resulted in a 17-fold increased risk among Blacks and a ninefold increase among Whites. Among drinkers, Blacks tended to drink more than Whites. Also, a higher (P = .01) percentage of Blacks (37%) than Whites (28%) were current smokers, although there were little or no racial differences in relative risks or patterns of use for other smoking variables, including number of cigarettes smoked per day, years of smoking, and age started smoking. From population-attributable risk calculations, we estimated that differences in alcohol and tobacco use account for the bulk of the higher incidence of oral cancer among Blacks in the United States and that, in the absence of alcohol and tobacco, the rates of this cancer according to race (Black, White) and gender would be nearly equal. With regard to other potential etiologic factors, protective effects provided by higher dietary intake of fruits and vitamin C were more pronounced for Whites, while Blacks more often tended to be in sociodemographic and medical or dental health categories associated with increased risk. CONCLUSIONS: These analyses provide evidence that various environmental or lifestyle determinants of oral cancer may contribute to the higher oral cancer rates in Blacks than in Whites in the United States, but that patterns and risks associated with alcohol consumption, particularly among current smokers, are the most important contributors to the excess risk in Blacks. IMPLICATIONS: These findings suggest that the key to prevention of oral and pharyngeal cancers among both Blacks and Whites is reduced intake of alcoholic beverages and, because of strong interactive effects, the cessation of smoking.

Adult↗
PubMed1996

Prostate cancer, race, and socioeconomic status: inadequate adjustment for social factors in assessing racial differences.

BACKGROUND: This paper reviews the state of the art in analyzing race, social factors, and economic factors in cancer research, with an emphasis on prostate cancer and the role of socioeconomic status (SES) in racial differences in mortality. It analyzes the quality of articles in the literature that assess the role of SES in cancer mortality. METHODS: English-language titles were identified using MEDLINE with publication dates from mid-1985 through July 1994. Articles in the references of these articles were also included in the final selection, based originally on title and ultimately on content, dating back to 1978. Articles that included SES information and distinguished between whites and African-Americans were chosen, resulting in a final selection of 21 articles. Articles are summarized with consideration of five criteria considered minimal requirements of a well-designed study of the role of race in cancer mortality: (1) SES measure(s) should be on an individual level, not census level; (2) SES should be controlled for when making comparisons between whites and blacks; (3) SES should include at least (individual level) measures of income and education; (4) sample sizes are sufficient for the relevant populations; and (5) specific cancer sites should be studied separately. RESULTS: Of the articles reviewed, only two meet the minimum standards, neither of which studied prostate cancer. It is not clear whether observed racial differences in prostate cancer are directly attributable to race or reflect underlying social factor differences between whites and African-Americans. CONCLUSIONS: In the future, specific characteristics of SES should be measured at the individual level; there is a need for expansion and standardization of data in terms of social and economic content; other methodological advances are needed in modeling to take into consideration the influence of SES in outcome research related to cancer.

Humans↗
PubMed2003

Racial differences in survival after diagnosis with primary malignant brain tumor.

BACKGROUND: Previous studies have shown that the overall incidence of primary malignant brain tumor is greatest in Caucasians, although survival is better in African Americans. The objective of this study was to examine racial differences in survival after diagnosis with primary malignant brain tumor in a population-based sample of patients while adjusting for prognostic variables that differ by race. METHODS: The authors analyzed 21,493 patients (20,493 Caucasians and 1000 African Americans) who were diagnosed with primary malignant brain tumors from 1973 to 1997 (with follow-up through 1999) from the population-based Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) Program. Chi-square tests were used to determine statistical significance of prognostic variables and race (using two-sided P values). Kaplan-Meier and Cox proportional hazards models were used to assess survival differences by race. RESULTS: The univariable model for race showed no survival difference by race. The multivariable model demonstrated that African American patients were at a 13% increased risk of death from any cause compared with Caucasian patients. The racial difference was explained further by an interaction between race and surgery type in which there was an increased risk of death for African American patients who underwent subtotal resections or surgery not otherwise specified compared with Caucasian patients who underwent the same procedures. CONCLUSIONS: There was a significant difference in the risk of death due to any cause for Caucasian patients and African American patients who were diagnosed with first primary brain tumors.

Adult↗
PubMed2000

Racial differences in energy expenditure and aerobic fitness in premenopausal women.

BACKGROUND: Aerobic fitness, or maximal oxygen uptake (f1.gif" BORDER="0">O(2)max), and energy expenditure (EE) may be lower in African Americans than in whites. OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to compare sleeping EE (SEE), resting EE (REE), free-living total EE (TEE), and f1.gif" BORDER="0">O(2)max in African American and white women after adjustment for body composition and free-living activity-related energy expenditure (AEE). DESIGN: Eighteen African American and 17 white premenopausal women were matched for weight, percentage body fat, and age. SEE and REE were measured in a room calorimeter and f1.gif" BORDER="0">O(2)max was measured on a treadmill. Fat-free mass (FFM) and fat mass (FM) (4-compartment model), AEE (doubly labeled water and SEE), and regional lean tissue (dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry) were used as adjustment variables in SEE, REE, TEE, and f1.gif" BORDER="0">O(2)max comparisons. RESULTS: The African American women had significantly more limb lean tissue and significantly less trunk lean tissue than did the white women. The African American women also had significantly lower SEE (6.9%), REE (7.5%), TEE (9.6%), and f1.gif" BORDER="0">O(2)max (13.4%) than did the white women. Racial differences persisted after adjustment for f1.gif" BORDER="0">O(2)max, AEE, FFM, and limb lean tissue but disappeared after adjustment for trunk lean tissue. The f1.gif" BORDER="0">O(2)max difference was independent of all body-composition variables and of AEE. CONCLUSIONS: African American women had lower aerobic fitness than did white women, independent of differences in lean tissue or AEE. Diminished racial differences in SEE, REE, and TEE after adjustment for trunk lean tissue suggest that low EE in African American women is mediated by low volumes of metabolically active organ mass.

Black or African American↗
PubMed2000

Racial differences in survival of patients on dialysis.

BACKGROUND: Recent studies have documented racial differences in the crude mortality rates of patients on dialysis. However, proper interpretation of these findings requires adjustment for potential confounders and comorbid risk factors between the racial groups. METHODS: We examined the clinical data on 3752 Caucasian patients, 451 Southeast Asian patients, 322 South Asian patients, and 319 black patients who were treated with hemodialysis or peritoneal dialysis under a Universal Health Care system in Toronto and prospectively followed between 1981 and 1995. In all patients, a number of comorbid risk factors for survival was assessed at the start of dialysis and was reassessed with their outcome status (that is, continued dialysis, transplantation, death, or loss to follow-up) at least every six months. Cox proportional hazards analysis was used to fit multivariate models predicting patient survival. Pairwise comparisons of the relative hazards of death between the racial groups were performed after stratifying for cardiovascular disease, diabetes mellitus, and hypertension at the start of dialysis, and were adjusted for differences in other comorbid risk factors. RESULTS: The risk of death in Caucasian patients was significantly increased when compared with Southeast Asian patients, South Asian patients, and black patients [multivariate relative hazards (95% CI): 1.63 (1.36 to 1.97), 1.36 (1.07 to 1.73), 1.34 (1.07 to 1.67), respectively]. Additionally, we detected an interaction between race and cigarette smoking (P < 0. 004), suggesting that in the dialysis patients who smoked, whites had a higher mortality risk compared with non-whites. CONCLUSIONS: Differences in patient survival on dialysis exist between racial groups. However, the genetic and environmental determinants that underlie these differences are presently unknown.

Adult↗
PubMed1993

Racial differences in the use of revascularization procedures after coronary angiography.

OBJECTIVE: To assess whether rates of coronary revascularization procedures differ between blacks and whites after coronary angiography is performed and to assess the relationship of these rates to hospital characteristics. DESIGN: A retrospective cohort study using 1987 and 1988 data on hospital claims and characteristics from the Health Care Financing Administration. SETTING: One thousand four hundred twenty-nine acute care hospitals that provide coronary angiography in the United States. PATIENTS: A national sample of 27,485 Medicare Part A enrollees, aged 65 to 74 years, who underwent inpatient angiography for coronary heart disease in 1987. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: The adjusted odds of revascularization with either coronary angioplasty or bypass graft surgery within 90 days of angiography for whites relative to blacks, controlling for age, sex, region, Medicaid eligibility, principal diagnosis, comorbid diagnoses, and hospital characteristics of ownership, teaching status, urban/suburban or rural location, and availability of revascularization procedures. RESULTS: White men and women were significantly more likely than black men and women, respectively, to receive a revascularization procedure after coronary angiography (57% and 50% vs 40% and 34%, both P < .001). The adjusted odds of receiving a revascularization procedure after coronary angiography were 78% higher for whites than blacks (95% confidence interval for odds ratio, 1.56 to 2.03). Statistically significant racial differences in the adjusted odds of receiving a revascularization procedure were present in all types of hospitals except rural hospitals, and these differences did not vary significantly by any of the four hospital characteristics (all P > .20 for interaction terms). CONCLUSIONS: Among Medicare enrollees, whites are more likely than blacks to receive revascularization procedures after coronary angiography. Racial differences of similar magnitude occur in all types of hospitals. These differences may reflect overuse in whites or underuse in blacks, but they are unlikely to reflect access to cardiologists or hospitals that perform revascularization procedures. Potential explanations include unmeasured clinical or socioeconomic factors, differing patient preferences, and racial bias at the hospitals performing angiography.

Black or African American↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Racial differences in platelet survival time in patients with symptomatic coronary atherosclerosis.

Platelet survival times were studied in 40 patients (21 white and 19 black) with coronary artery disease and stable effort induced angina pectoris. The platelet survival times of 19 white controls (9.27 +/- 0.49 days; mean +/- SD) were not significantly different from those of 12 black controls (8.88 +/- 0.81 days), and the platelet survival times for 21 white patients with coronary artery disease (8.46 +/- 0.65 days) were lower than the times for both the white controls (p less than 0.01) and the combined control group (p less than 0.01). However, the difference between the mean platelet survival times of 19 black patients (9.22 +/- 0.68) and the control groups was not significant, and the difference between the mean platelet survival times of the 21 white patients and the 19 black patients was significant (p less than 0.01). Stepwise multiple linear regression analysis indicated that race was the most significant factor in predicting shortened platelet survival (r = 0.4783; p less than 0.01). It is concluded that racial background should be considered in the interpretation of platelet studies and that reported racial differences in the rate and extent of atherosclerotic lesions may be related to racial differences in platelet consumption.

Black People↗
PubMed1996

Racial differences in marriage and childbearing: oral history evidence from the South in the early twentieth century.

Using oral histories collected in 1938 and 1939 in the Southern United States, this article examines how African-Americans and whites viewed marriage and nonmarital childbearing. The authors document distinct racial differences in family norms and the sanctions that supported those norms. Giving birth outside a marital relationship was clearly not the stigmatizing event for African-Americans that it was for whites. The authors also found that African-Americans were more likely than whites to end marriages under similar conditions. These results suggest that debates about contemporary racial differences need to take into account the historical background, both cultural and demographic, of diverse groups.

Black or African American↗
PubMed1999

The effect of patients' preferences on racial differences in access to renal transplantation.

BACKGROUND: In the United States, black patients undergo renal transplantation less often than white patients, but few studies have directly assessed the association between race and patients' preferences with respect to transplantation. METHODS: To assess preferences with respect to transplantation and experiences with medical care, we interviewed 1392 (82.9 percent) of 1679 eligible patients with end-stage renal disease (age range, 18 to 54 years) approximately 10 months after they had begun maintenance treatment with dialysis. Participants were selected from a stratified random sample of patients undergoing dialysis in four regions of the United States (Alabama, southern California, Michigan, and the mid-Atlantic region of Maryland, Virginia, and the District of Columbia) in 1996 and 1997. Patients were followed until March 1999. RESULTS: The interviews were conducted with 384 black women, 354 white women, 337 black men, and 317 white men. Black patients were less likely than white patients to want a transplant (76.3 percent of black women reported such a preference, vs. 79.3 percent of white women, and 80.7 percent of black men vs. 85.5 percent of white men), and they were less likely to be very certain about this preference (58.3 percent vs. 65.3 percent and 64.1 percent vs. 75.7 percent, respectively; P<0.01 for each comparison with both sexes combined). However, much larger differences were evident in rates of referral for evaluation at a transplantation center (50.4 percent for black women vs. 70.5 percent for white women, and 53.9 percent for black men vs. 76.2 percent for white men; P<0.001 for each comparison) and placement on a waiting list or transplantation within 18 months after the start of dialysis therapy (31.3 percent for black women vs. 56.5 percent for white women, and 35.3 percent for black men vs. 60.6 percent for white men; P<0.001). These racial differences remained significant after adjustment for patients' preferences and expectations about transplantation, sociodemographic characteristics, the type of dialysis facility, perceptions of care, health status, the cause of renal failure, and the presence or absence of coexisting illnesses. CONCLUSIONS: In the United States, the preferences and expectations with respect to renal transplantation among patients with end-stage renal disease differ according to race. These differences, however, explain only a small fraction of the substantial racial differences in access to transplantation. Physicians should ensure that black patients who desire renal transplantation are fully informed about it and are referred for evaluation.

Adult↗
PubMed2005

Racial differences in reported napping and nocturnal sleep in 2- to 8-year-old children.

OBJECTIVES: The objectives of this study were to examine racial differences in reported napping and nighttime sleep of 2- to 8-year-old children, to identify factors accounting for these differences, and to determine if variability in napping was related to psychosocial functioning. METHODS: Caretakers of 1043 children (73.5% non-Hispanic white; 50.4% male) 2 to 8 years old from a community sample reported on their children's napping behavior and nighttime sleep. Caretakers of 255 preschool children (3-5 years old) also completed the Behavior Assessment System for Children. RESULTS: A more gradual age-related decline in napping was found for black children. At age 8, 39.1% of black children were reported to nap, compared with only 4.9% of white children. Black children also napped significantly more days per week, had shorter average nocturnal sleep durations, and slept significantly less on weekdays than on weekend nights. Despite differences in sleep distribution, total weekly sleep duration (diurnal and nocturnal) was nearly identical for the 2 racial groups at each year of age. Logistic regression analysis revealed that demographic variables were related to but did not fully explain napping differences. Napping in a subset of preschoolers was not significantly related to psychosocial functioning. CONCLUSIONS: There are remarkable racial differences in reported napping and nighttime sleep patterns beginning as early as age 3 and extending to at least 8 years of age. These differences are independent of commonly investigated demographic factors. Differences in napping behavior do not seem to have psychosocial significance in a sample of preschool children.

Age Factors↗
PubMed2006

Racial differences in adiponectin in youth: relationship to visceral fat and insulin sensitivity.

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to investigate 1) whether adiponectin is associated with insulin sensitivity independent of visceral adipose tissue in African-American and Caucasian youth and 2) whether adiponectin is associated with racial differences in insulin sensitivity. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: Total body fat was measured by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry and abdominal adipose tissue with computed tomography. Insulin sensitivity was measured by a 3-h hyperinsulinemic-euglycemic clamp. RESULTS: Adiponectin was inversely associated (P < 0.01) with visceral adipose tissue, fasting insulin, and proinsulin and was positively related (P < 0.01) to insulin sensitivity after controlling for Tanner stage and sex independent of race. Stepwise multiple regression revealed that adiponectin was a strong independent predictor of insulin sensitivity, explaining 27% of the variance in insulin sensitivity. When subjects were categorized into tertiles of visceral adipose tissue and further low (< or = 50th) and high (>50th) adiponectin groups, insulin sensitivity was significantly different across the visceral adipose tissue groups (main effect, P < 0.01) in both races. However, within each visceral adipose tissue group, subjects with high adiponectin had higher insulin sensitivity (main effect, P < 0.05) than subjects with low adiponectin, independent of race. Racial differences in insulin sensitivity remained significant (P < 0.01) after controlling for leptin and visceral adipose tissue but not (P > 0.05) after additional adjustment for adiponectin. CONCLUSIONS: Adiponectin is associated with insulin sensitivity independent of visceral adipose tissue in both African-American and Caucasian youth. Low adiponectin in African-American youth may be a biological marker that predisposes them to a greater risk of insulin resistance.

Adiponectin↗
PubMed1995

Racial differences in sensitivity to the negative chronotropic effects of propranolol in healthy men.

OBJECTIVE: Dose-response studies in patients with hypertension have shown that black subjects are less responsive to beta-blocker therapy than white subjects, whereas studies in healthy volunteers suggest marginal or no racial differences in response. No concentration-response studies have been conducted in black subjects and white subjects. The purpose of this study was to characterize beta-blocker pharmacodynamics in healthy black and white men. METHODS: Thirteen black and 13 white healthy men took 80 mg oral propranolol three times daily, for a total of 16 doses. Heart rate response to treadmill exercise was measured at various times over 24 hours. Serum propranolol samples were collected during the same 24-hour time period and were measured by chiral HPLC. The sigmoid maximal effect (Emax), Emax, and linear models were fitted to percentage reductions in exercise heart rate and S-propranolol concentrations. RESULTS: Black subjects had significantly lower values for serum concentration producing one-half the maximal effect (EC50) and unbound EC50 than white subjects (EC50: 10.2 ng/ml (4.4 to 28.0 ng/ml) versus 24.4 ng/ml (14.3 to 64.1 ng/ml), blacks versus whites; unbound EC50: 1.29 ng/ml (0.686 to 4.91 ng/ml) versus 2.77 ng/ml (1.70 to 8.11 ng/ml), blacks versus whites). There was no statistical difference in Emax (33.3% [22.2% to 39.7%] versus 38.3% [30.7% to 45.1%], blacks versus whites). CONCLUSIONS: Healthy black men were more sensitive to beta-blockade than healthy white men. The results of this study in healthy volunteers suggest that the racial differences in response observed in patients with hypertension are related to hypertensive pathophysiology rather than normal physiology.

Adult↗
PubMed1993

Fast and slow methylators: do racial differences influence risk of allograft rejection?

A catabolic route for azathioprine involving methylation by thiopurine methyltransferase has been directly implicated in the drug's immunosuppressive efficacy. Since ethnic differences in thiopurine methyltransferase activity have been reported in a study of Lapps, this study compared the distribution of thiopurine methyltransferase activity in erythrocyte lysates from 134 healthy, randomly selected subjects living in Brazil, comprising 39 blacks (i.e. Afro-Brazilians), 33 white subjects, 30 mixed-race subjects, and 32 Brazilian-residing Japanese subjects. The results demonstrated bimodality of thiopurine methyltransferase activity compatible with genetic polymorphism in the white, black and mixed-race groups, but not in the Japanese, who were homogeneously 'fast methylators' (high thiopurine methyltransferase activity). Thiopurine methyltransferase activity was generally higher in Brazilian males than females, and some individuals in the black and mixed-race groups had very high activity. Azathioprine-immunosuppressed transplant patients with thiopurine methyltransferase activity above 35 pmol/h/mgHb have previously been shown to have significantly poorer outcomes. Using this thiopurine methyltransferase value as the cut-off point between 'poor responders' and 'good responders' to azathioprine, 65% of the Japanese, 59% of the black subjects, and 63% of the mixed-race subjects fell into the 'poor responder' category, compared with only 42% of the white group. Interestingly, this approximately 20% difference in azathioprine response corresponds to the racial differences seen in allograft survival.

Adult↗
PubMed1998

Attitudes and beliefs about organ donation among different racial groups.

Many people on the waiting list for organ donation die each year without receiving organs. The shortage of organs is even more pronounced in minority communities. Despite the fact that minorities are at higher risk, they may be less likely to support or consent to organ donation. This investigation was undertaken to study racial factors in organ donation, by focusing on differences in awareness, attitudes, and behavior. Three family practice centers in the Bronx with racially diverse but socioeconomically homogenous communities were studied. The study population consisted of a convenience sample of 163 patients who were approached for participation while they waited to see a doctor. Respondents filled out a 25-item survey that measured demographic information; their exposure to, awareness of, and attitudes toward organ donation; and whether they had signed an organ donor card. The results demonstrated overwhelming support for organ donation across all racial groups. Racial differences were found on awareness of and attitudes toward organ donation, and in the signing of organ donation cards. In contrast to other studies, racial minorities were not less likely than whites to support organ donation. These results suggest that making it easier for racial minorities to obtain organ donor cards could increase their rates of consenting to donate organs.

Adult↗
PubMed2004

The use of restraint and seclusion in different racial groups in an inpatient forensic setting.

The purpose of this study was to determine if physical restraint and/or seclusion had been used with different frequencies in patients of different racial groups in an inpatient forensic psychiatry facility. The method used was a retrospective correlational study of all inpatients (n = 806) treated from January 1993 through August 2000 at Kirby Forensic Psychiatric Center, a maximum-security inpatient forensic facility in Ward's Island, NY, near New York City. Episodes of restraint and/or seclusion were measured in each racial group. The number of violent incidents involving patients of each racial group was also measured. Racial groups at Kirby did not differ significantly from each other in number of violent incidents nor in the number of episodes of restraints. However, Asians and blacks as racial groups were more likely to have been secluded than were other racial groups. This difference did not persist when the number of incidents of seclusion was considered individually rather than for entire racial groups.

Forensic Psychiatry↗