There were mixed results for the study hypotheses. First,
racial disparities were observed on 3 of the 6 health
outcomes, with African Americans reporting a greater
number of poor health days, more hospitalizations, and
a greater number of days hospitalized (generally supporting
hypothesis 1). The magnitude of these disparities was
small from the standpoint of variation explained using
regression, but the differences were clinically significant.
For instance, African Americans averaged more than 2
poor health days in the last month and nearly 2 days
more per year in the hospital.
Gender was largely unrelated to health outcomes,
although women did report a greater number of
nonroutine physician visits. This does not necessarily
indicate differences in health per se, but could also reflect
differences in likelihood of seeking medical advice. We
anticipated women would report a greater number of
poor emotional health days based on previous findings of
a greater incidence of depressive symptoms, but this was
not the case. Therefore, hypothesis 2 was not supported.