Stress Measured by Allostatic Load Score Varies by Reason for Immigration: The Africans in America Study

Reason for immigration as a biological stress has not been studied in Africans. Our goal was to determine in African immigrants, if biological stress measured by allostatic load score (ALS) varies by reason for immigration.

Using an ALS which had been previously developed with the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) data to assess stress due to racism and nativity, ALS was calculated in 85 African immigrants (67% male, age 42 ± 10 years). For confirmation, we tested five additional ALS also built from NHANES.

The two reasons for immigration which consistently had the lowest ALS were family reunification and lottery winner for self and immediate family. The other reasons for immigration such as study, asylum/refugee, and work had higher ALS. As reasons for immigration with the lowest ALS promoted family unity, they were combined (group 1) and the Africans who came for other reasons were combined (group 2). ALS in group 1 vs. group 2 was 1.96 ± 1.40 vs. 2.94 ± 1.87, P = 0.03.

Biological stress varies by reason for immigration and appears to be mitigated by maintaining family unity. Overall, reason for immigration is an important biographical data likely to influence health.