Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Comparative Study
. 2010 Jul;35(6):932-43.
doi: 10.1016/j.psyneuen.2009.12.009. Epub 2010 Jan 29.

Socioeconomic and race/ethnic differences in daily salivary cortisol profiles: the multi-ethnic study of atherosclerosis

Anjum Hajat  1 , Ana Diez-Roux, Tracy G Franklin, Teresa Seeman, Sandi Shrager, Nalini Ranjit, Cecilia Castro, Karol Watson, Brisa Sanchez, Clemens Kirschbaum
Affiliations
Comparative Study

Socioeconomic and race/ethnic differences in daily salivary cortisol profiles: the multi-ethnic study of atherosclerosis

Anjum Hajat et al. Psychoneuroendocrinology. 2010 Jul.

Abstract

It has often been hypothesized that stress and its biological consequences mediate the relationship between low socioeconomic status (SES) or minority status and poor cardiovascular disease outcomes. The objective of this study was to determine if daily cortisol patterns, a biomarker of the stress response, differ by race/ethnicity and socioeconomic status. Data were collected from 935 Black, White and Hispanic adults age 48-90 years old. Salivary cortisol samples were collected six times per day over 3 days: at awakening, 30min later, at 1000h, noon, 1800h and at bedtime. Blacks and Hispanics had lower levels of wake-up cortisol and less steep early declines, while Blacks had flatter and Hispanics steeper late day declines relative to Whites. Similarly the low socioeconomic status group also had lower levels of wake-up cortisol and less steep decline during the early part of the day. These patterns remained after adjustment for health behaviors and psychosocial factors. This study finds an association between salivary cortisol and race/ethnicity and SES in a multi-ethnic study population. Further work is needed to determine the health consequences of these differences.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
LOESS curves of cortisol by age, gender, race and income/wealth
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Enhancing recovery in coronary heart disease patients (enrichd): Study design and methods. The enrichd investigators. Am Heart J. 2000;139:1–9. - PubMed
    1. Adler NE, Boyce T, Chesney MA, Cohen S, Folkman S, Kahn RL, Syme SL. Socioeconomic status and health. The challenge of the gradient. Am Psychol. 1994;49:15–24. - PubMed
    1. Barefoot JC, Dodge KA, Peterson BL, Dahlstrom WG, Williams RB., Jr. The Cook-Medley hostility scale: Item content and ability to predict survival. Psychosom Med. 1989;51:46–57. - PubMed
    1. Baum A, Garofalo JP, Yali AM. Socioeconomic status and chronic stress. Does stress account for ses effects on health? Ann N Y Acad Sci. 1999;896:131–144. - PubMed
    1. Bennett GG, Merritt MM, Wolin KY. Ethnicity, education, and the cortisol response to awakening: A preliminary investigation. Ethn Health. 2004;9:337–347. - PubMed

Publication types