Using Decomposition Analysis to Identify Modifiable Racial Disparities in the Distribution of Blood Pressure in the United States.

ABSTRACT: To lower the prevalence of hypertension and racial disparities in hypertension, public health agencies have attempted to reduce modifiable risk factors for high blood pressure, such as excess sodium intake or high body mass index. In the present study, we used decomposition methods to identify how population-level reductions in key risk factors for hypertension could reshape entire population distributions of blood pressure and associated disparities among racial/ethnic groups. We compared blood pressure distributions among non-Hispanic white, non-Hispanic black, and Mexican-American persons using data from the US National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (2003-2010). When using standard adjusted logistic regression analysis, we found that differences in body mass index were the onl

SUBMITTER: Basu S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4528957 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature