Pilot 2
Characterizing the Distribution and Social Correlates of Metabolic Syndrome in a Tri-ethnic Urban Sample
(A. Schulz PhD PI, C. Lachance PhD co-PI)
(2-year pilot)
This project brings together an interdisciplinary team within the context of an ongoing community-based participatory research (CBPR) partnership examining racial disparities in cardiovascular disease (CVD) in a tri-ethnic urban population. This proposed pilot study will contribute to an understanding of the mechanisms through which social inequalities are transformed into racial, ethnic and socioeconomic inequalities in health by examining the social correlates of metabolic syndrome (MetS) in a sample of non-Hispanic Black, non-Hispanic White, and Hispanic/Latino residents of Detroit, Michigan.
Metabolic syndrome (MetS) has emerged as an important predictor of CVD, encompassing a constellation of risk factors associated with stressful life conditions. The literature on racial patterning of MetS is mixed. Few studies to date have examined the contributions of psychososocial stress (as an indicator of exposure to stressful life conditions) to MetS and the extent to which these indicators may account for racial and ethnic disparities in risk factors for CVD in a multi-ethnic community-based sample.
We propose to characterize the distribution and social correlates of MetS in a multiethnic sample of residents of Detroit. Following the conceptual model that guides the work of the Healthy Environments Partnership, we will test the following hypotheses:
- the distribution of MetS and its component indicators varies by racial and ethnic group status;
- variation in MetS is reduced after adjusting for indicators of SEP; and
- variation in MetS is further reduced after adjusting for psychosocial indicators of stress.
This analysis will draw upon data collected through the Healthy Environments Partnership in 2002–2003. The proposed analyses will provide the foundation for a cohort study examining predictors of MetS as an indicator of CVD risk within a tri-ethnic urban population, with a second wave of data collection already funded and scheduled for 2008.