When researching racial disparities in health, residential segregation cannot be ignored. Because of segregation, contextual differences by race are so pronounced that ignoring them may lead to mis-estimating the effect of individual-level factors. However, given the stark racial separation of social contexts, researching how residential segregation and neighborhood inequality contribute to rac...

Low birth weight (LBW) rates remain the highest among African Americans despite public health efforts to address these disparities; with some of the highest racial disparities in the Midwest (Kansas). The Developmental Origins of Health and Disease (DOHaD) perspective offers an explanation for how LBW contributes to racial health disparities among African Americans and informs a community direc...

To assess the public's perceptions and attitudes about racial and ethnic differences in health care, the Kaiser Family Foundation surveyed a nationally representative sample of 3,884 whites, African Americans, and Latinos in 1999. The survey found that the majority of Americans are uninformed about health care disparities--many were unaware that blacks fare worse than whites on measures such as...

Although the transition to adulthood for youth with special health care needs (YSHCN) has been gathering attention, the impact of racial and ethnic disparities on this process has been relatively unexamined. In this review, we explore evidence of disparities in the transition to adulthood for YSHCN, which is important because the problems that YSHCN face in transitioning to adulthood are, in la...

BACKGROUND This study assesses racial/ethnic disparities in negative social consequences of drinking and alcohol dependence symptoms among white, black, and Hispanic Americans. We examine whether and how disparities relate to heavy alcohol consumption and pattern, and the extent to which social disadvantage (poverty, unfair treatment, and racial/ethnic stigma) accounts for observed disparities....

This study explored potential gender and racial/ethnic disparities in overall health risk related to 24 health risk indicators selected across six domains: socioeconomic, health status and health care, lifestyle, nutritional, clinical, and environmental. Using the 20032006 National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys (NHANES), it evaluated crosssectional data for 5,024 adults in the United...

Obesity remains a persistent public health and health disparity concern in the United States. Eliminating health disparities, particularly among racial/ethnic minority groups, is a major health priority in the US. The primary aim of this review was to evaluate representation of racial/ethnic sub-group members in behavioral weight loss interventions conducted among adults in the United States. T...

Racial disparities in medical care should be understood within the context of racial inequities in societal institutions. Systematic discrimination is not the aberrant behavior of a few but is often supported by institutional policies and unconscious bias based on negative stereotypes. Effectively addressing disparities in the quality of care requires improved data systems, increased regulatory...

Hypertension is a highly prevalent risk factor and a major contributor to a myriad of cardiovascular diseases. It is difficult to overestimate the overall impact of effective hypertension control on the cardiovascular disease burden in the population. Because of consistent efforts to increase the awareness and treatment of hypertension in the United States during the past several decades, the o...

Disparities in health status and health outcomes exist among subpopulations of women; these disparities may be related to socioeconomic status, race, ethnicity, and country of birth. In this paper, we use surveillance data from 2003 and earlier to examine racial and ethnic differences among women in sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) (chlamydia, gonorrhea, and syphilis), human immunodeficienc...