Update on the Health Disparities Literature
Authors: Judith A. Long, Virginia W. Chang, Said A. Ibrahim, David A. Asch
Journal: Annals of Internal Medicine (2004)

Updates16 November 2004Update on the Health Disparities LiteratureJudith A. Long, MD, Virginia W. Chang, MD, PhD, Said A. Ibrahim, MD, MPH, and David A. Asch, MDJudith A. Long, MDFrom the Veterans Affairs Center for Health Equity Research and Promotion, Leonard Davis Institute of Health Economics, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, and University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; and University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and Veterans Affairs Center for Health Equity Research and Promotion, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania., Virginia W. Chang, MD, PhDFrom the Veterans Affairs Center for Health Equity Research and Promotion, Leonard Davis Institute of Health Economics, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, and University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; and University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and Veterans Affairs Center for Health Equity Research and Promotion, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania., Said A. Ibrahim, MD, MPHFrom the Veterans Affairs Center for Health Equity Research and Promotion, Leonard Davis Institute of Health Economics, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, and University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; and University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and Veterans Affairs Center for Health Equity Research and Promotion, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania., and David A. Asch, MDFrom the Veterans Affairs Center for Health Equity Research and Promotion, Leonard Davis Institute of Health Economics, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, and University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; and University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and Veterans Affairs Center for Health Equity Research and Promotion, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.Author, Article, and Disclosure Informationhttps://doi.org/10.7326/0003-4819-141-10-200411160-00013 SectionsAboutFull TextPDF ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack CitationsPermissions ShareFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail Health and health care are distributed unevenly in the United States, and under-represented minorities are likely to get less of both. In 2002, the Institute of Medicine published an authoritative research and policy document on this matter. Since release of that report, hundreds of publications have addressed racial or ethnic disparities in health and health care. This Update focuses on the literature from 2002 and 2003 addressing the lack of equity in adult health and health care in the United States.We read the title of every article published in leading medical, health services research, and health sociology journals in ...References1. Smedley BD, Stith AY, Nelson AR, eds. Unequal Treatment: Confronting Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Health Care. Washington, DC: National Academies Pr; 2002. Google Scholar2. Peterson ED, Wright SM, Daley J, Thibault GE. Racial variation in cardiac procedure use and survival following acute myocardial infarction in the Department of Veterans Affairs. JAMA. 1994;271:1175-80. [PMID: 8151875] CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar3. Whittle J, Conigliaro J, Good CB, Lofgren RP. Racial differences in the use of invasive cardiovascular procedures in the Department of Veterans Affairs medical system. N Engl J Med. 1993;329:621-7. [PMID: 8341338] CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar4. Mirvis DM, Burns R, Gaschen L, Cloar FT, Graney M. Variation in utilization of cardiac procedures in the Department of Veterans Affairs health care system: effect of race. J Am Coll Cardiol. 1994;24:1297-304. [PMID: 7930253] CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar5. Conigliaro J, Whittle J, Good CB, Hanusa BH, Passman LJ, Lofgren RP, et al. Understanding racial variation in the use of coronary revascularization procedures: the role of clinical factors. Arch Intern Med. 2000;160:1329-35. [PMID: 10809037] CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar6. Wilson MG, May DS, Kelly JJ. Racial differences in the use of total knee arthroplasty for osteoarthritis among older Americans. Ethn Dis. 1994;4:57-67. [PMID: 7742733] MedlineGoogle Scholar7. Escalante A, Espinosa-Morales R, del Rincón I, Arroyo RA, Older SA. Recipients of hip replacement for arthritis are less likely to be Hispanic, independent of access to health care and socioeconomic status. Arthritis Rheum. 2000;43:390-9. [PMID: 10693880] CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar8. Peterson MG, Hollenberg JP, Szatrowski TP, Johanson NA, Mancuso CA, Charlson ME. Geographic variations in the rates of elective total hip and knee arthroplasties among Medicare beneficiaries in the United States. J Bone Joint Surg Am. 1992;74:1530-9. [PMID: 1469013] CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar9. Flegal KM, Carroll MD, Ogden CL, Johnson CL. Prevalence and trends in obesity among US adults, 1999-2000. JAMA. 2002;288:1723-7. [PMID: 12365955] CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar10. Troiano RP, Flegal KM, Kuczmarski RJ, Campbell SM, Johnson CL. Overweight prevalence and trends for children and adolescents. The National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys, 1963 to 1991. Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med. 1995;149:1085-91. [PMID: 7550810] CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar11. Heath GW, Pratt M, Warren CW, Kann L. Physical activity patterns in American high school students. Results from the 1990 Youth Risk Behavior Survey. Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med. 1994;148:1131-6. [PMID: 7921112] CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar12. Aaron DJ, Kriska AM, Dearwater SR, Anderson RL, Olsen TL, Cauley JA, et al. The epidemiology of leisure physical activity in an adolescent population. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 1993;25:847-53. [PMID: 8350708] CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar13. Wu Y, Glynn SA, Schreiber GB, Wright DJ, Lo A, Murphy EL, et al. First-time blood donors: demographic trends. Transfusion. 2001;41:360-4. [PMID: 11274590] CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar14. Epstein AM, Ayanian JZ, Keogh JH, Noonan SJ, Armistead N, Cleary PD, et al . Racial disparities in access to renal transplantation—clinically appropriate or due to underuse or overuse? N Engl J Med. 2000;343:1537-44, 2 p preceding 1537. [PMID: 11087884] CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar15. Gaston RS, Ayres I, Dooley LG, Diethelm AG. Racial equity in renal transplantation. The disparate impact of HLA-based allocation. JAMA. 1993;270:1352-6. [PMID: 8360970] CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar16. Bach PB, Cramer LD, Warren JL, Begg CB. Racial differences in the treatment of early-stage lung cancer. N Engl J Med. 1999;341:1198-205. [PMID: 10519898] CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar17. Clegg LX, Li FP, Hankey BF, Chu K, Edwards BK. Cancer survival among US whites and minorities: a SEER (Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results) Program population-based study. Arch Intern Med. 2002;162:1985-93. [PMID: 12230422] CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar18. Kaplan SH, Gandek B, Greenfield S, Rogers W, Ware JE. Patient and visit characteristics related to physicians' participatory decision-making style. Results from the Medical Outcomes Study. Med Care. 1995;33:1176-87. [PMID: 7500658] CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar19. Cooper-Patrick L, Gallo JJ, Gonzales JJ, Vu HT, Powe NR, Nelson C, et al. Race, gender, and partnership in the patient–physician relationship. JAMA. 1999;282:583-9. [PMID: 10450723] CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar20. Saha S, Komaromy M, Koepsell TD, Bindman AB. Patient-physician racial concordance and the perceived quality and use of health care. Arch Intern Med. 1999;159:997-1004. [PMID: 10326942] CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar21. Doescher MP, Saver BG, Franks P, Fiscella K. Racial and ethnic disparities in perceptions of physician style and trust. Arch Fam Med. 2000;9:1156-63. [PMID: 11115223] CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar22. Freeman HP. The meaning of race in science—considerations for cancer research: concerns of special populations in the National Cancer Program. Cancer. 1998;82:219-25. [PMID: 9428500] CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar23. Ng-Mak DS, Dohrenwend BP, Abraido-Lanza AF, Turner JB. A further analysis of race differences in the National Longitudinal Mortality Study. Am J Public Health. 1999;89:1748-51. [PMID: 10553402] CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar24. Manton KG, Patrick CH, Johnson KW. Health differentials between blacks and whites: recent trends in mortality and morbidity. Milbank Q. 1987;65 Suppl 1 129-99. [PMID: 3327005] CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar25. McCord C, Freeman HP. Excess mortality in Harlem. N Engl J Med. 1990;322:173-7. [PMID: 2294438] CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar Author, Article, and Disclosure InformationAffiliations: From the Veterans Affairs Center for Health Equity Research and Promotion, Leonard Davis Institute of Health Economics, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, and University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; and University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and Veterans Affairs Center for Health Equity Research and Promotion, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.Note: Drs. Chang and Ibrahim contributed equally to this article.Acknowledgment: The authors thank Hannah Shacter for her time and assistance with this manuscript.Grant Support: Drs. Long and Ibrahim are supported by Veterans Adminstration Health Services Research & Development Career Development Awards. Dr. Ibrahim is also a recipient of the Harold Amos Fellowship Award from Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Dr. Chang is supported by a Career Development Award (5-K12-HD-0435901) from the National Institutes of Health/National Institute of Child Health and Human Development.Disclosures: None disclosed.Corresponding Author: Judith A. Long, MD, Center for Health Equity Research and Promotion, Philadelphia Veterans Affairs Medical Center, University and Woodland Avenues, Philadelphia, PA 19104; e-mail, [email protected]med.upenn.edu.Current Author Address: Drs. Long and Asch: Center for Health Equity Research and Promotion, Philadelphia Veterans Affairs Medical Center, University and Woodland Avenues, Philadelphia, PA 19104.Dr. Chang: 1233 Blockley Hall, 423 Guardian Drive, Philadelphia, PA 19104-6021.Dr. Ibrahim: Center for Health Equity Research and Promotion, Veterans Affairs Pittsburgh Healthcare System, University Drive C, MB28 Pittsburgh, PA 15240. PreviousarticleNextarticle Advertisement FiguresReferencesRelatedDetailsSee AlsoInequality in Health Care: Unjust, Inhumane, and Unattended! Talmadge E. King Jr and Margaret B. Wheeler Metrics Cited ByPrevalence of Cardiovascular Disease Risk Factors by Key Demographic Variables Among Mid-South Church Leaders from 2012 to 2017Characteristics of long‐term survivors with multiple myeloma: A National Cancer Data Base analysisExamining Hepatitis C Virus Treatment Preference Heterogeneity Using Segmentation AnalysisSimpson's paradox – aggregating and partitioning populations in health disparities of lung cancer patientsDevelopment and Psychometric Assessment of the Healthcare Provider Cultural Competence InstrumentHow equity is addressed in clinical practice guidelines: a content analysisPredictors of adherence to screening guidelines for chronic diseases of lifestyle, cancers, and HIV in a health-insured population in South AfricaGeographic Disparities in Access to Lung Transplantation Before and After Implementation of the Lung Allocation ScoreLow Rates of African American Participation in Genetic Counseling and Testing for BRCA1/2 Mutations: Racial Disparities or Just a Difference?Assessing the cultural competency of practicing community pharmacists: A pilot studyHealth, Behavior, and Health Care Disparities: Disentangling the Effects of Income and Race in the United StatesParent Medication Concerns Predict Underutilization of Mental Health Services for Minority Children With ADHDThe association between socio-demographic characteristics and adherence to breast and colorectal cancer screening: Analysis of large sub populationsPublic Value Mapping of Equity in Emerging NanomedicineAccess to hematopoietic stem cell transplantationCommunicating Health Information to Disadvantaged PopulationsDisparate Inclusion of Older Adults in Clinical Trials: Priorities and Opportunities for Policy and Practice ChangeExploring Societal Impact of Nanomedicine Using Public Value MappingCancer Prevention Behaviors in Low-Income Urban Whites: An Understudied ProblemUnderstanding why rheumatoid arthritis patient treatment preferences differ by raceUntreated Hypertension and the Emergency Department: A Chance to Intervene?Transforming Clinical Practice to Eliminate Racial–Ethnic Disparities in HealthcareRecommendations for Teaching about Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Health and Health CareWally R. Smith, MD, Joseph R. Betancourt, MD, MPH, Matthew K. Wynia, MD, MPH, Jada Bussey-Jones, MD, Valerie E. Stone, MD, MPH, Christopher O. Phillips, MD, MPH, Alicia Fernandez, MD, Elizabeth Jacobs, MD, MPP, and Jacqueline Bowles, MD, MSCEDatabases, differences, and disparitiesParallels and distinctions between health care quality improvement and health care disparities reductionAggregating and Partitioning Populations in Health Care Disparities Research: Differences in PerspectiveA perspective on African American participation in clinical trialsRacial Disparities in the Filling of Warfarin Prescriptions for Nonvalvular Atrial FibrillationA Multicenter Study of Burnout, Depression, and Quality of Life in Minority and Nonminority US Medical StudentsHealth Care Disparities in Critical IllnessConquering Cancer Disparities: New Opportunities for Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarker, and Prevention Research: Table 1.Understanding the Provider Contribution to Race/Ethnicity Disparities in Pain Treatment: Insights from Dual Process Models of StereotypingMeeting the Challenges Facing Clinical Research: Solutions Proposed by Leaders of Medical Specialty and Clinical Research SocietiesCharacteristics of Families That Complain Following Pediatric Emergency VisitsPsychometric Evaluation of the Cultural Competence Assessment Instrument Among Healthcare ProvidersRacial Differences in Asthma Morbidity During PregnancyInequality in Health Care: Unjust, Inhumane, and Unattended!Talmadge E. King Jr, MD and Margaret B. Wheeler, MD 16 November 2004Volume 141, Issue 10Page: 805-812KeywordsArthroplastyExerciseHealth careHealth equityHispanic peopleKneesMedicareMortalityRacial and ethnic issuesSurgery ePublished: 16 November 2004 Issue Published: 16 November 2004 CopyrightCopyright © 2004 by American College of Physicians. All Rights Reserved.PDF DownloadLoading ...