Is there a difference in the perception of symptoms between african americans and whites with XXXX ?

@entity308 @entity571 @entity158
OBJECTIVE: To determine if there is a difference in the perception of @entity158 and functional disability between African Americans and Whites at any given radiographic severity of @entity571 ( @entity571 ). Ethnic differences in utilization of joint replacement may reflect differences in the perception of symptoms of @entity571 . METHODS: A cross-sectional survey included 596 male veterans (44% African Americans and 56% Whites) with chronic moderate to severe knee and/or hip @entity158 at the General Medicine Clinics. The average age of the total cohort was 65.63 +/- 9.5 years. The Western Ontario and McMaster Universities @entity571 Index (WOMAC) for @entity158 and function were the primary outcome measures of interest. All knee and or hip radiographs were graded using the Kellgren-Lawrence (K/L) grading system. RESULTS: African Americans and Whites were comparable with respect to age (65 +/- 9.5 vs 66 +/- 9, respectively); body mass index > or = 30 kg/m2 (53.9% vs 58.8%); Lequesne severity score (11 +/- 4 vs 11 +/- 4); geriatric @entity308 score (4.5 +/- 3.3 vs 5.0 +/- 3.8) and Charlson Comorbidity Index (2.3 +/- 2 vs 2.5 +/- 2). African Americans had lower socioeconomic status with fewer high school graduates (57% vs 71%, p = 0.001), lower employment rate (8.4% vs 14.7%, p = 0.017), and lower total household incomes (41.4% vs 20.4% reported income <  10,000, p = 0.000). African Americans and Whites were not different in mean scores for @entity158 and WOMAC function when stratified by joint space narrowing, osteophyte and Kellgren Lawrence grades. After controlling for important covariates, ethnicity was not a significant predictor of @entity158 and function. CONCLUSION: In this sample of male veterans, African Americans and Whites perceived the same degree of @entity158 and functional difficulties at any given radiographic severity of @entity571 . Differences in the perception of symptoms cannot explain the observed ethnic disparity in utilization of joint replacement.
