Health Disparities News and Research

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Health disparities (also called healthcare inequality in some countries) refer to gaps in the quality of health and health care across racial, ethnic, sexual orientation and socioeconomic groups.

Medicaid expansion in New York associated with reduction in severe maternal morbidity

A study at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health and Columbia University Irving Medical Center has found that Medicaid expansion in 2014 in New York State was associated with a statistically significant reduction in severe maternal morbidity in low-income women during delivery hospitalizations compared with high-income women.

29 Jan 2021

Medicaid expansion helps detect more numbers of undiagnosed HIV infections

The Medicaid expansion facilitated by the Affordable Care Act led to increases in the identification of undiagnosed HIV infections and in the use of HIV prevention services such as preexposure prophylaxis drugs, says new research co-written by a team of University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign experts who study the intersection of health care and public policy.

27 Jan 2021

Looming eviction crisis may put Californians at increased risk for unmet medical needs

Research published in the peer-reviewed Journal of General Internal Medicine found that Californians who had moved due to unaffordable housing are significantly more likely to report unmet medical needs compared to people with non-cost-related moves.

27 Jan 2021

American Heart Association committed to support more than $230 million to achieve health equity

The American Heart Association, the leading global voluntary health organization dedicated to fighting heart disease and stroke, is making an unprecedented series of investments focused on enhancing its historic commitment to addressing the social determinants of health and the barriers to achieving health equity for all communities - urban, suburban and rural.

25 Jan 2021

Genomic test has lower prognostic accuracy in minority patients with breast cancer

Black women have higher recurrence and mortality rates than non-Hispanic white women for certain types of breast cancer, according to a University of Illinois Chicago researcher's study published recently in JAMA Oncology.

22 Jan 2021

Two out of five U.S. adults missed medical care in the early phase of pandemic

Two out of five individuals delayed or missed medical care in the early phase of the pandemic--from March through mid-July 2020--according to a new survey from researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

22 Jan 2021

Negative childhood experience connected to relatively unfavorable living situation

An adverse upbringing often impairs people's circumstances and health in their adult years, especially for couples who have both had similar experiences.

21 Jan 2021

Analysis reveals rapid surge in methamphetamine overdose deaths in the United States

Methamphetamine overdose deaths surged in an eight-year period in the United States, according to a study published today in JAMA Psychiatry.

20 Jan 2021

Religious beliefs modulate protein expression linked to cardiovascular disease in US South Asians

The Study on Stress, Spirituality and Health (SSSH), a cutting-edge proteomics analysis, suggests that religious beliefs modulate protein expression associated with cardiovascular disease in South Asians in the United States.

15 Jan 2021

Study reveals racial-ethnic inequities among people with type 1 diabetes and COVID-19

Black and Hispanic people with COVID-19 and diabetes are more likely than Caucasians to die or have serious complications, according to a new study published in the Endocrine Society's Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism.

7 Jan 2021

UCI study first to identify and characterize 'pharmacy deserts' in California

In the United States, Black, Latino and low-income communities have historically lacked nearby access to pharmacy services.

6 Jan 2021

Genetic risk score can be used to determine risk of developing prostate cancer

Some racial and ethnic groups suffer relatively more often, and fare worse, from common ailments compared to others. Prostate cancer is one disease where such health disparities occur: risk for the disease is about 75 percent higher, and prostate cancer is more than twice as deadly, in Blacks compared to whites.

4 Jan 2021

Polygenic risk scores from multi-population data could improve IBD predictions

Using genetic data from nearly 30,000 people, Mount Sinai researchers have built risk scores from a combination of datasets representing distinct ancestral populations that improve prediction of risk for inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) including Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis. The study was published in Gastroenterology on December 24.

24 Dec 2020

Health disparities in cancer and COVID-19 are caused by similar factors

Income level, employment, housing location, medical insurance, education, tobacco and alcohol use, diet and obesity, access to medical care. These are some of the factors causing worse cancer outcomes in people who are Black.

23 Dec 2020

Study could help prevent HIV/AIDS and pregnancy among South African adolescent girls

An important new finding by University of Cincinnati researchers could help slow the transmission of HIV/AIDS and reduce pregnancies among adolescent girls in rural South Africa.

22 Dec 2020

Temple researchers receive new grant to address racial disparities in lung cancer care

The path to cancer care is rarely straight-forward. But for Black men and women in particular, it is cluttered with obstacles, some of which are systemic - arising from policies, procedures, or practices that contribute to inequalities in care or that completely block access to critical services.

17 Dec 2020

Regulatory policies block transgender and gender diverse individuals from accessing care

The Endocrine Society and the Pediatric Endocrine Society oppose legislative efforts to block transgender and gender diverse individuals from accessing gender-affirming medical and surgical care, the two medical societies said in a joint policy perspective published in The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism.

16 Dec 2020

Health Disparities News and Research

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