Inequitable Treatment Persists Across Pediatric Specialties, Review Shows
Children in racial and ethnic minority groups received poorer healthcare services compared with white kids, a review of quantitative studies showed. Inequitable treatment persisted across pediatric specialties, including neonatology, primary care, emergency medicine, inpatient and critical care, surgery, developmental disabilities, mental health care, endocrinology, and palliative care, reported Nia Heard-Garris, MD, of Northwestern University’s Feinberg […]
Discrimination alters brain-gut ‘crosstalk,’ prompting poor food choices and increased health risks
People frequently exposed to racial or ethnic discrimination may be more susceptible to obesity and related health risks in part because of a stress response that changes biological processes and how we process food cues. These are findings from UCLA researchers conducting what is believed to be the first study directly examining effects of discrimination […]
Implicit Bias Training Betters Psychiatric Care at One Seattle Hospital
LONG BEACH, Calif. — Staff training in implicit bias curbed racial disparities in the use of mechanical restraints at one Seattle hospital, a researcher reported. From 2015-2017, about 13% of ethnic minority patients were restrained in the psychiatric units at Harborview Medical Center versus just over 8% of white patients, explained Timothy Meeks, MN, RN, […]
Various Ailments Plague Some Pediatric Cancer Survivors More Than Others
Childhood cancer survivors of certain racial and ethnic groups were prone to more hospitalizations for various conditions years down the road, according to a cohort study from Washington State. Racial disparities in outcomes began to emerge 5 years after diagnosis of childhood cancer, when overall hospitalization was more common among American Indian and Alaska Native […]
Increased Public Assistance Tied to Better Cancer Survival in Black Patients
CHICAGO — Overall survival (OS) in Black patients with cancer improved significantly, and racial disparities in cancer survival decreased, with increased state-level spending on public welfare programs, a large retrospective review showed. Every 10% increase in public welfare spending was associated with an 8.6% improvement in cancer survival among Black patients, almost four times greater […]
COVID Was Third Leading Cause of U.S. Deaths in 2021, Says CDC
While COVID-19 in 2021 was again the third leading cause of death in the U.S., racial and ethnic disparities narrowed from the year before, provisional CDC data indicated. Overall, 65.2% of the COVID-19 deaths in 2021 were among white individuals, 16.5% were among Hispanic individuals, and 13.3% were among Black individuals. In 2020 these proportions […]
Oprah, Smithsonian Channel To Explore Health Care Inequities
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Oprah Winfrey and the Smithsonian Channel are partnering to highlight racial disparities in the health care system through a new campaign and documentary. The network revealed on Thursday the Color of Care campaign to create a solution toward health equity. The campaign will follow the premiere of Winfrey’s “The Color of […]
Communities with higher levels of racial prejudice have worse health outcomes: Area-level racial prejudice drives health inequities, research finds
People who live in communities with higher levels of racial prejudice have worse health outcomes, including more heart disease and mental health problems and higher overall mortality rates, according to research published by the American Psychological Association. The researchers conducted a systematic review of fourteen papers that used data gathered from Google, Twitter and other […]
Minimally Invasive Myomectomy on the Rise for Uterine Fibroids
Minimally invasive surgery for uterine fibroid removal is gaining popularity, but racial and ethnic disparities and gaps by socioeconomic status still exist, according to a retrospective study based in California. Compared with white women, Black women were less likely to undergo minimally invasive surgery (OR 0.88, 95% CI 0.81-0.95), as were Hispanic women (OR 0.74, […]
What’s Behind the Racial Differences in Women’s Cancer Screening?
When it comes to racial disparities in cancer screening for women, factors such as disability, medical comorbidities, and insurance status may be playing an outsized role, a cross-sectional survey based in Chicago found. While women who identified as Black, Hispanic, or another race or ethnicity were significantly less likely than white women to be up […]