Abstract MP48: Daily Spiritual Experiences And Allostatic Load Trajectories In Midlife African American Women

Abstract

Introduction: African American women have a significantly higher risk for cardiovascular disease (CVD) with an earlier age of onset than non-Hispanic whites. Recent evidence suggests that psychological stress may contribute to the disproportionate burden of CVD in midlife African American women. Religion and spirituality have been associated with lower risk of CVD and improved psychological distress. Hypothesis: We assessed the hypothesis that daily spirituality may have cardioprotective effects among midlife African American women. Methods: We performed a secondary analysis of public-use data from 727 African American women enrolled in the Study of Women’s Health Across the Nation (SWAN), a multi-site longitudinal cohort study. Biological, psychosocial, and physical measures were collected approximately annually. Allostatic load (AL) was calculated at each visit using 10 biomarkers representing neuroendocrine, immune, metabolic, and cardiovascular system functioning. Group-based trajectory modeling identified women with similar patterns of AL over a 7-year period. The Daily Spiritual Experiences Scale was used to categorize daily spiritual experiences (some days or less, most days, daily, many times a day). We used logistic regression to estimate associations between daily spiritual experiences and AL trajectory group. Models adjusted for baseline age, education, and depressive symptoms. Results: Three distinct trajectories of AL were identified: low (35.1% = 255 of 727), moderate (44.7% = 325 of 727), and high (20.2% = 147 of 727). We found that women who reported daily comfort in religion and spirituality were less likely to be represented in the high AL trajectory group when controlling for age. Conclusions: Our findings suggest that spirituality may have cardioprotective effects among midlife African American women. Further investigation on sociocultural factors that may buffer the negative effects of psychological distress on CVD risk in midlife African American women is needed. This work can inform culturally relevant interventions to improve cardiovascular health outcomes in this population.