Racial-ethnic disparities in self-reported health status among US adults adjusted for sociodemographics and multimorbidities, National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2011–2014

ABSTRACT

Objective: To investigate racial-ethnic disparities in self-reported health status adjusting for sociodemographic factors and multimorbidities.

Design: A total of 9499 adult participants aged 20 years and older from the United States (US); reported by the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), a cross-sectional survey – for years 2011–2014. The main outcome measure was self-reported health status categorized as excellent/very good, good (moderate), and fair/poor.

Results: Of the NHANES participants, 40.7% reported excellent/very good health, 37.2% moderate health and 22.1% fair/poor health. There were 42.8% who were non-Hispanic whites, 20.2% were Hispanic, 23.8% were non-Hispanic blacks, and 13.2% were non-Hispanic Asians. Compared to non-Hispanic whites, Hispanics [Odds Ratio (OR) = 2.91, 95% Confidence Interval (CI) = 2.28–3.71] and non-Hispanic blacks [OR = 1.51, 95% CI = 1.26–1.83] were more likely to report fair/poor health, whereas, non-Hispanic Asians [OR = 1.42, 95% CI = 1.14–1.76] were more likely to report moderate health than excellent/very good health. Compared to those with no chronic conditions, participants with two or three chronic conditions [OR = 9.35, 95% CI = 7.26–12.00] and with four or more chronic conditions [OR = 38.10, 95% CI = 26.50–54.90] were more likely to report fair/poor health than excellent/very good health status.

Conclusion: The racial-ethnic differences in self-reported health persisted even after adjusting for sociodemographics and number of multimorbidities. The findings highlight the potential importance of self-reported health status and the need to increase health awareness through health assessment and health-promotional programs among the vulnerable minority US adults.

KEYWORDS:

• NHANES
• multimorbidities
• racial-ethnic disparities
• self-reported health status

Acknowledgements

The authors thank Rosa Castro for reviewing the manuscript and providing editorial assistance.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This project was partially supported by National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NIMHD) [grant number U54MD007584] and [grant number G12MD007601], and National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS) [grant number P20GM103466] and [grant number U54GM104944] from the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health.