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Racial discrimination predicts greater systemic inflammation in pregnant African American women
- Source :
- Applied Nursing Research. 32:98-103
- Publication Year :
- 2016
- Publisher :
- Elsevier BV, 2016.
-
Abstract
- Purpose Chronic exposure to racial discrimination by pregnant African American women may lead to allostatic overload; thereby, predisposing women to systemic inflammation. Thus, the goal of this study was to examine if experiences of racial discrimination are related to systemic inflammation in pregnant African Americans. Methods A sample of 96 African American women from Chicago completed questionnaires and had blood drawn during the second trimester of pregnancy (19.7±2.5 weeks). Results Experiences of racial discrimination were associated with higher cytokine levels of interleukin (IL)-4 ( B =2.161, 95% CI=1.02–3.30, p p =.004) when controlling for covariates. Conclusion These findings suggest that experiences of racial discrimination may cause physiological wear and tear on the body leading to alteration of immune functions. Nurses should inquire about women's experiences of racial discrimination and make referrals for community or church support groups for women who report racial discrimination.
- Subjects :
- Gerontology
Chronic exposure
media_common.quotation_subject
Systemic inflammation
Racism
Article
03 medical and health sciences
0302 clinical medicine
Pregnancy
Second trimester
medicine
Humans
Community or
030212 general & internal medicine
General Nursing
Prejudice (legal term)
media_common
Inflammation
African american
business.industry
medicine.disease
Black or African American
Pregnancy Complications
Female
medicine.symptom
business
Prejudice
030217 neurology & neurosurgery
Clinical psychology
Subjects
Details
- ISSN :
- 08971897
- Volume :
- 32
- Database :
- OpenAIRE
- Journal :
- Applied Nursing Research
- Accession number :
- edsair.doi.dedup.....6da8c7dec44937aa2186ac7f996391fc