Coronary heart disease risk factor variables in black and white females aged 18-24 years

Author

Barbee Claudette Myers

Date of Award

12-1984

Degree Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy

Major

Education

Major Professor

B. Don Franks

Committee Members

Edward T. Howley, Schuyler W. Huck, Roy E. Beauchene, Ralph E. Jones, Dennie Kelley

Abstract

Although heart disease mortality rates are much lower in women than men in both races, black females tend to have consistently higher Coronary Heart Disease mortality rates than white females. Of the heart disease risk factors that are established, one cannot discern at what age they begin to discriminate. This dissertation is based on two hypotheses. The first is that black females and white females are different in levels of heart disease risk factors. The second is that heart disease risk factors are related differently to blood pressure among black and white females 18-24 years of age. Both hypotheses were supported in the two studies. In the first study, total MET hours of physical activity per week, body mass index, sum of triceps and subscapular skinfolds, and frequency of added fats and sugars daily were found to be statistically significant discriminators of the racial groups. The model was highly significant. In the second study, the amount of variance accounted for by systolic blood pressure by the "best" model was 51.5 percent for blacks and 23.0 percent for whites. For black females, body mass index, cigarette smoking, and father's history of hypertension were the significant predictors. Among whites, the significant predictors were father's educational level, cigarette smoking, father's history of hypertension, and body mass index. In terms of diastolic pressure, 41.7 percent of the variance was accounted for among blacks and 11.3 percent for whites. Body mass index, father's history of hypertension, and physical activiity were significant predictors of diastolic pressure for blacks compared to oral contraceptive use for whites in this age group.

Recommended Citation

Myers, Barbee Claudette, "Coronary heart disease risk factor variables in black and white females aged 18-24 years. " PhD diss., University of Tennessee, 1984.
https://trace.tennessee.edu/utk_graddiss/12933