The Science of Health Disparities Research. Группа авторов

Читать онлайн.
Название The Science of Health Disparities Research
Автор произведения Группа авторов
Жанр Биология
Серия
Издательство Биология
Год выпуска 0
isbn 9781119374848



Скачать книгу

Health Statistics [6].

Crude Age adjusted
2015 1980 1990 2000 2010 2014 2015
White 7 090.6 9 554.1 8 159.5 6 949.5 6 342.8 6 390.1 6 514.8
Black or African American 9 764.6 17 873.4 16 593.0 12 897.1 9 832.5 9 490.6 9 702.3
Hispanic or Latino 4 452.8 7 963.3 6 037.6 4 795.1 4 676.8 4 750.4
Asian or Pacific Islander 3 073.6 5 378.4 4 705.2 3 811.1 3 061.2 2 954.4 3 049.7
American Indian or Alaska Native 6 895.3 13 390.9 9 506.2 7 758.2 6 771.3 6 954.0 7 176.2

      

      For Latinos and Whites, the years of potential life lost also show a decreasing trend, with the exception of a slight increase between 2013 and 2014 (4668.1 years in 2013 to 4676.8 years in 2014 for Latinos and 6338.2 years in 2013 to 6390.1 years in 2014 for Whites). There were large improvements for American Indians or Alaska Natives between 1980 (13 390.9 years) and 1990 (9506.2 years), and small improvements between 1990 and 2015 (9506.2 years and 7176.2 years, respectively). Despite these improvements, a study in 2015 of mortality found that overall life expectancy in the United States has decreased slightly from 78.9 years in 2014 to 78.8 years in 2015 [8]. This is noteworthy, as it is the first time the United States has seen a drop in life expectancy in decades.

      3.4.1.3 Socioeconomic Status

Schematic illustration of the conceptual framework of the distal mediators and moderators of the relationship between socioeconomic status and health outcomes and behaviors.

      Source: Based on Brown et al. [9].

      The most commonly used measure of income inequality is the Gini coefficient, “formally defined as half of the arithmetic average of the absolute differences between all pairs of incomes within the sample, with the total then being normalized on mean income. If incomes are distributed completely equally, the value of the Gini will be zero. If one person has all the income, representing complete inequality, the Gini will assume a value of 1” [14].

      Research on income inequality and health, including the role of violence, strongly supports a causal link [15]. Furthermore, a growing body of literature linking neighborhoods and health has shown that residing in a disadvantaged neighborhood is associated with increased rates of chronic disease [16]. Data suggest that these neighborhoods have fewer resources available to promote healthy behaviors and facilitate good health (further discussed in Section 3.4.2).

      While this SES–health relationship has been robust across many health outcomes and at multiple levels, more work is needed to understand the complexity of the components of SES and how they affect health disparities [11]. These components do not always act independently but, instead, are affected by one another. Determining the biological mechanisms linking these social factors to disease outcomes has been a major priority for the field of social epidemiology.

      Racial and ethnic minority populations, who have disproportionately lower SES, are especially affected by stressors related to their minority status (i.e., discrimination and racism) that exacerbate health disparities. Disentangling the effects of race and ethnicity from those of SES is extremely difficult due to the complex historical inequities and ongoing social issues. Rigorously designed studies to address this question are needed.

      3.4.2 Other Social Determinants

      3.4.2.1 Acculturation

      In addition to the health disparities that racial and ethnic minority groups experience, the health of immigrant populations is influenced by their