Temporal Racial Trends in Cardiovascular Health: Cohort and Period Trends and Explanations

Brian K. Finch, San Diego State University
Audrey N. Beck, San Diego State University
Shih-Fan Lin, San Diego State University

We examine demographic trends in cardiovascular health using cross-classified random effect models (CCREM) for age, period, and cohort. Specifically, we identify trends for White and Black men and women for more than a century of cohort members by looking at measures of cardiovascular health, including: blood pressure, hypertension, triglycerides, and cholesterol. We utilize a unique data file that combines six waves of NHANES data, merged for time-trend analysis (the Integrated Health and Nutrition Examination Survey--IHANES, created by the Center for Health Equity Research and Policy at San Diego State University). While our current results only describe these trends along three time-dimensions, we are in the process of identifying relevant cohort and period characteristics that will help to explain these trends. Cohort characteristics include: segregation, infectious disease rates, and relative cohort size. Period characteristics include: levels of prejudice and rates of racial intermarriage.