The following is a summary of “Differences in Social Determinants of Health Underlie Racial/Ethnic Disparities in Psychological Health and Well-Being: Study of 11,143 Older Adults,” published in the July 2023 issue of Psychiatry by Jester, et al.

For a study, researchers sought to assess the impact of specific social determinants of health (SDoH) on psychological health and overall well-being (including depression, cognition, and self-rated health) among Black and Hispanic/Latinx adults compared to White adults aged 51 to 89 years.

In a sample of 2,306 non-Hispanic/Latinx Black, 1,593 Hispanic/Latinx, and 7,244 non-Hispanic/Latinx White people who took part in the Health and Retirement Study (total N=11,143), differences in depressive symptoms, cognitive function, and self-rated health were examined. To determine if variations in a subset of SDoH explained more of the inequalities than age, sex, health measurements, health behaviors, and healthcare consumption, the researchers employed the Blinder-Oaxaca decomposition approach. The SDoH that was chosen took into account things like education, parental education, years of employment, marital status, veteran status, place of residence, place of birth, income, and insurance coverage.

The study found that Black and Hispanic/Latinx adults reported worse depressive symptomatology, cognitive function, and self-rated health than White adults. The selected SDoH explained a more significant proportion of the disparities between Black and White adults in depressive symptomatology (51%), cognitive function (39%), and self-rated health (37%) than the factors of age, sex, health measures, health behaviors, and healthcare utilization. Similarly, SDoH accounted for a more significant proportion of the disparities between Hispanic/Latinx and White adults in cognitive function (76%) and self-rated health (75%), but age and physical health were more closely correlated with the disparity in depressive symptomatology (28%). Among the SDoH, education, parental education, years worked, income, and insurance parity were particularly associated with these disparities.

The study indicated that differences in social determinants of health play a significant role in racial/ethnic disparities in depression, cognitive function, and self-rated health among older adults. Education, income, number of years worked, and insurance parity are identified as key social determinants contributing to these disparities. Addressing these social determinants could be essential in reducing health disparities and promoting better psychological health and overall well-being among diverse older adult populations.

Source: ajp.psychiatryonline.org/doi/10.1176/appi.ajp.20220158