Difference in All-Cause Mortality Between Unemployed and Employed Black Men. Analysis Using the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) III

The Black-White racial employment disparity and its link to mortality have demonstrated the health benefits obtained from employment. Further, racial/ethnic mortality disparities existing among men with different employment status have been previously documented. The purpose ofthis study was to examine the differences among employed and unemployed Black men in relation to health status and all-cause mortality. Data for the study was obtained from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) III 1988–1994 linked to the NHANES III Linked Mortality File. Cox proportional hazard models were specified to examine the association between health behaviors and mortality in Black men by employment status. All analyses were performed using SAS v 9.4 (Research Triangle Park, NC). P values <.05 were considered statistically significant and all tests were two-sided. The findings from this study suggest that unemployed Black men are more likely to have fair/poor health status and statistically significant differences in all-cause mortality are present between employed (Hazard Ratio [HR] 1.60, 95% CI [1.33, 1.92]) and unemployed Black men. These results highlight the impact of employment on diminished life expectancy among unemployed Black men and underscore the need to address employment inequalities to reduce the mortality disparities among Black men.