Racial Disparities in Blood Pressure Trajectories of Preterm Children: The Role of Family and Neighborhood Socioeconomic Status.

ABSTRACT: Racial disparities in cardiovascular disease mortality in the United States remain substantial. However, the childhood roots of these disparities are not well understood. In the current study, we examined racial differences in blood pressure trajectories across early childhood in a sample of African-American and European-American low-birth-weight preterm infants. Family and neighborhood socioeconomic status (SES), measured at baseline, were also examined as explanations for subsequent group disparities. Analyses focused on 407 African-American and 264 European-American children who participated in the Infant Health and Development Program, a US longitudinal study of preterm children born in 1985. Blood pressure was assessed on 6 occasions between the ages of 24 and 78 months, in 1987-1992.

SUBMITTER: Fuller-Rowell TE 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5860255 | biostudies-literature | 2017 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature