Document Type

Journal Article

Publication Date

2018

Journal

Annual Review of Public Health

Volume

39

Issue

17

Inclusive Pages

1-17

DOI

10.1146/annurev-publhealth-040617-014230

Abstract

An abundance of research has documented health inequalities by race and socioeconomic position (SEP) in the United States. However, conceptual and methodological challenges complicate the interpretation of study findings, thereby limiting progress in understanding health inequalities and in achieving health equity. Fundamental to these challenges is a lack of clarity about what race is and the implications of that ambiguity for scientific inquiry. Additionally, there is wide variability in how SEP is conceptualized and measured, resulting in a lack of comparability across studies and significant misclassification of risk. The objectives of this review are to synthesize the literature regarding common approaches to examining race and SEP health inequalities and to discuss the conceptual and methodological challenges associated with how race and SEP have been employed in public health research. Addressing health inequalities has become increasingly important as the United States trends toward becoming a majority-minority nation. Recommendations for future research are presented.

Comments

Reproduced with permission of Annual Reviews.

Review in Advance first posted on January 12, 2018. (Changes may still occur before final publication.)

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Peer Reviewed

1

Open Access

1

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