Perceived racial discrimination is one aspect of racism that is increasingly receiving empirical attention as a class of stressors that could have consequences for health and for understanding racial disparities in health. A recent review identified 115 studies on this topic in the PubMed database between 2006 and 2008.80 It revealed that recent studies have found an association between discrimination and a broad range of health status indicators ranging from violence, poor sexual functioning and less stage 4 sleep, to abdominal fat, hemoglobin A1c, coronary artery calcification, the incidence of uterine myomas (fibroids) and breast cancer. Studies have also found that discrimination is adversely related to health care seeking and adherence behaviors, and increased risk of multiple substances, such tobacco, alcohol and illicit drug use. Another striking pattern in the recent research is the broad range of contexts that have been considered. In addition to including all the major racial groups in the U.S., recent studies have included samples from New Zealand, Australia, South Africa and immigrant groups in most European countries.
