While research has suggested a trend toward increased comorbidity between cardiovascular disease and major depressive disorder in Black Americans, understanding the comorbid outcome in relation to perceived discrimination is lacking, with even less known about the relationship between disaggregated ethnic minority groups. The aims of this cross-sectional analysis are to explore the association between comorbid cardiovascular disease and major depressive disorder and perceived discrimination among U.S. Blacks, and to understand differences in the strength of association between subgroups (i.e., African Americans and Caribbean Blacks). Multinomial logistic regression models, were estimated using National Survey of American Life (2001-2003) Black participants, 50 years of age and older (N=1,512) to study the association between perceived discrimination and comorbid CVD/MDD, MDD only, and CVD only compared to no MDD or CVD. Additional models included the interaction between perceived discrimination and ethnicity to address variations in the strength of associations by subgroups. Results indicate that each one-unit increase in perceived discrimination is significantly associated with a 70% increased relative risk of comorbid CVD/MDD compared to those without CVD or MDD (RRR=1.7, p≤0.05), and for each one-unit increase in perceived discrimination, African Americans have a 30% decreased relative risk of comorbid CVD/MDD compared to Caribbean Blacks (RRR=0.7, p=0.4). Results of this research support an association between perceived discrimination and comorbid CVD/MDD among Blacks, and motivate additional research into the risk factors among and between U.S. Black subgroups.
Read
