TY - JOUR
T1 - Elevated cholesterol among African American adults
T2 - the role of fatalistic attitudes about health
AU - de Dios, Marcel A.
AU - Childress, Sarah D.
AU - Cano, Miguel Ángel
AU - McNeill, Lorna H.
AU - Reitzel, Lorraine R.
AU - Vaughan, Ellen
N1 - Funding Information:
Data collection and management were supported by funding from the University Cancer Foundation; the Duncan Family Institute through the Center for Community-Engaged Translational Research; the Ms. Regina J. Rogers Gift: Health Disparities Research Program; the Cullen Trust for Health Care Endowed Chair Funds for Health Disparities Research; the Morgan Foundation Funds for Health Disparities Research and Educational Programs; and the National Cancer Institute at the National Institutes of Health through The University of Texas MD Anderson’s Cancer Center Support Grant [grant number CA016672]. Dr. de Dios is supported by a career development award from the Division of Cancer Prevention, National Cancer Institute [grant number K01-CA160670, M. de Dios, PI].
Publisher Copyright:
© 2018 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.
PY - 2020/8/17
Y1 - 2020/8/17
N2 - Objectives: Cardiovascular disease (CVD) affects 47% of African-American adults (AAs) in the United States. Elevated cholesterol, the greatest risk factor for CVD, is highly prevalent among AAs, potentially as the result of engagement in behavioral risk factors. Religiosity has been associated with a beneficial effect in health promoting behaviors, yet findings have been mixed depending on methods employed. Religious health fatalism, defined as ‘the belief that health outcomes are inevitable and/or determined by God’, is a more specific domain of a religiosity that needs further exploration through scientific research. The purpose of the current study is to examine the relationship between RHFQ subscales and self-reported lifetime history of elevated cholesterol. Methods: Participants (n = 135) were recruited from a large, predominately African American church. A multiple logistic regression model was used to test whether the three subscales of the Religious Health Fatalism Questionnaire (RHFQ) were cross-sectional predictors of self-reported lifetime history of elevated cholesterol. Sets of variables were entered into a stepwise logistic regression model with the first set (Block 1) including significant demographic variables and religiosity (i.e. sex, age, level of education, employment status and scores on the Lukwago Religiosity Scale score [LRS]. The three RHFQ subscales were entered into Block 2 as our predictors of interest. Results: After adjusting for covariates, the likelihood of elevated cholesterol increased significantly (OR = 3.21, 95% CI = 1.81–5.69, p <.001) as Helpless Inevitability (RHFQ subscale) scores increased. Conclusions: A greater degree of Helpless Inevitability was found to be significantly associated with self-reported elevated cholesterol level. Future research is needed to further understand the complex interplay of factors associated with religiosity and fatalism that contribute to increased risk of elevated cholesterol among AAs.
AB - Objectives: Cardiovascular disease (CVD) affects 47% of African-American adults (AAs) in the United States. Elevated cholesterol, the greatest risk factor for CVD, is highly prevalent among AAs, potentially as the result of engagement in behavioral risk factors. Religiosity has been associated with a beneficial effect in health promoting behaviors, yet findings have been mixed depending on methods employed. Religious health fatalism, defined as ‘the belief that health outcomes are inevitable and/or determined by God’, is a more specific domain of a religiosity that needs further exploration through scientific research. The purpose of the current study is to examine the relationship between RHFQ subscales and self-reported lifetime history of elevated cholesterol. Methods: Participants (n = 135) were recruited from a large, predominately African American church. A multiple logistic regression model was used to test whether the three subscales of the Religious Health Fatalism Questionnaire (RHFQ) were cross-sectional predictors of self-reported lifetime history of elevated cholesterol. Sets of variables were entered into a stepwise logistic regression model with the first set (Block 1) including significant demographic variables and religiosity (i.e. sex, age, level of education, employment status and scores on the Lukwago Religiosity Scale score [LRS]. The three RHFQ subscales were entered into Block 2 as our predictors of interest. Results: After adjusting for covariates, the likelihood of elevated cholesterol increased significantly (OR = 3.21, 95% CI = 1.81–5.69, p <.001) as Helpless Inevitability (RHFQ subscale) scores increased. Conclusions: A greater degree of Helpless Inevitability was found to be significantly associated with self-reported elevated cholesterol level. Future research is needed to further understand the complex interplay of factors associated with religiosity and fatalism that contribute to increased risk of elevated cholesterol among AAs.
KW - African Americans
KW - Religiosity
KW - cholesterol
KW - fatalism
KW - helplessness
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U2 - 10.1080/13557858.2018.1469734
DO - 10.1080/13557858.2018.1469734
M3 - Article
C2 - 29716391
AN - SCOPUS:85046479469
SN - 1355-7858
VL - 25
SP - 835
EP - 842
JO - Ethnicity and Health
JF - Ethnicity and Health
IS - 6
ER -