Association of depression, psycho-social stress and acculturation with respiratory disease among puerto rican adults in Massachusetts

Stanislav Henkin, Katherine L. Tucker, Xiang Gao, Luis M. Falcon, Imrana Qawi, Doug Brugge

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

8 Scopus citations

Abstract

To assess associations between acculturation, depression, and self-reported stress score with reported diagnosis of respiratory disease (RD) in Puerto Rican adults, participants (N = 1,168) were identified from areas of high Hispanic density in the Boston, MA metropolitan area. Eligible participants were interviewed in the home by bilingual interviewers in either Spanish or English. Scales included topics ranging from general background to depressive symptomatology. Respiratory disease was selfreported and checked against prescribed medication. More than one-third (37.8%) of subjects reported doctor-diagnosed RD. A final binary logistical regression model (N = 850), which was adjusted for potential confounders (sex, age, education, poverty) showed that RD was significantly associated with psychological acculturation (OR = 1.97, P = 0.005), depressive symptomatology (OR = 1.52, P = 0.03) high perceived stress score (OR = 1.97, P = 0.009), and current smoking (OR = 1.61, P = 0.03). Significant inverse associations included a high level of language acculturation (OR = 0.65, P = 0.03), light (OR = 0.67, P = 0.01) and moderate to heavy physical activity versus sedentary physical activity (OR = 0.40, P = 0.03). We found self reported physician diagnosed RD was associated with high perceived stress and depression, as well as higher levels of psychological acculturation. Longitudinal research is needed to determine if there is a causal pathway for these associations.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)214-223
Number of pages10
JournalJournal of Immigrant and Minority Health
Volume13
Issue number2
DOIs
StatePublished - Apr 2011

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • Epidemiology
  • Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health

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