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Primary Submission Category: Biomarkers or biological pathways
Intersectional Experiences of Gender and Race in CKM Health Prevalence
Authors: Athena Owirodu,
Presenting Author: Athena Owirodu*
Cardiovascular-Kidney-Metabolic (CKM) syndrome is a biomarker measure that captures health risks across interconnected biological systems (Ndumele et al. 2023). National trends reveal growing comorbidity across these systems, with one-quarter of U.S. adults experiencing at least one CKM-related condition between 2015 and 2020 (Aggarwal et al. 2024). Population disparities in disease progression exist, as Black adults experience disproportionately higher rates of advanced CKM compared to other racial groups (Aggarwal et al. 2024).
This research project focuses on within-group heterogeneity of CKM syndrome outcomes among Black U.S. adults through a gender lens. Previous research reveals that Black women and men face large inequalities in cardiovascular, metabolic, and kidney health (Palaniappan et al. 2025; Singh et al. 2025). Exposure to stressors may play a role in explaining the existence of gendered disparities in these health outcomes. While perceived discrimination is a known mechanism in health disparity research, little work has examined this relationship with the complex biomarker outcome of CKM syndrome.
I use Waves I, IV, and V of Add Health to examine the relationships between gender, perceived discrimination and CKM syndrome among Black respondents (N=576). Preliminary results reveal some disparities by gender in CKM staging, as well as potential differential impacts of discrimination on health by gender. Further analysis will include ordinal logistic regressions to evaluate how these associations contribute to health inequalities among Black adults, and how personal and social resources may buffer the harmful impacts of discrimination as mediators in this relationship.