Chronic Work Discrimination, Allostatic Load, and HbA1c in Older Workers

Abstract Background and Objective Work discrimination is an important public health problem with consequences for health. This study examined the effect of chronic work discrimination on 4-year changes in HbA1c, as a reflection of glucose control and type 2 diabetes risk in older workers and assessed whether allostatic load (AL) affected the strength of this association. Research Design and Methods We used Health and Retirement Study data (2010–2016, n = 3,246). Conditional change multinomial logistic regression examined the association between chronic work discrimination, high AL (4 or more out of 8 high-risk biomarkers), and HbA1c, while accounting for relevant covariates. Results Black participants had the highest rates of baseline (22.7%) and follow-up (28%) HbA1c levels, AL (38%), and chronic work discrimination (39%; p