BACKGROUND In recent decades, the United States experienced increasing prevalence and incidence of diabetes, accompanied by large disparities in county-level diabetes prevalence and incidence. However, whether these disparities are widening, narrowing, or staying the same has not been studied. We examined changes in disparity among U.S. counties in diagnosed diabetes prevalence and incidence be...

One can measure the disparities between two retinal images in several different ways. Experiments were conducted to identify the measure that is invariant at the threshold for detecting the disparity of two-dimensional patterns. The patterns used were stereo plaids, which permit a partial dissociation between the disparity of the pattern and the disparities of its one-dimensional components. Fo...

Prior research suggests that stigma plays a role in racial/ethnic health disparities. However, there is limited understanding about the mechanisms by which stigma contributes to HIV-related disparities in risk, incidence and screening, treatment, and survival and what can be done to reduce the impact of stigma on these disparities. We introduce the Stigma and HIV Disparities Model to describe h...

BACKGROUND Bicycle helmet laws generally increase helmet usage, but few studies assess whether helmet laws reduce disparities. The objective of this study is to assess changes in racial/ethnic disparities in helmet use among high school students in urban jurisdictions where laws were previously determined to increase overall helmet use. METHODS Log-binomial models were fit to four districts' ...

BACKGROUND For minority populations in the United States, especially African Americans, Hispanics, and Native Americans, healthcare disparities are a serious problem. The literature documents racial and ethnic utilization disparities with regard to THA and TKA. QUESTIONS/PURPOSES We therefore (1) defined utilization disparities for total joint arthroplasty in racial and ethnic minorities, (2)...

BACKGROUND It has been hypothesized that birth weight is not on the causal pathway to infant mortality, at least among "normal" births (i.e. those located in the central part of the birth weight distribution), and that US racial disparities (African American versus European American) may be underestimated. Here these hypotheses are tested by examining the role of birth weight on racial disparit...

BACKGROUND Wisconsin has a goal to eliminate health disparities by 2010, but there is no consistent standard used to evaluate progress. Methodological debates persist regarding using individual group change or relative comparisons to monitor disparities. OBJECTIVES To examine mortality disparities among racial/ethnic populations in Wisconsin using statistically significant changes in individu...

OBJECTIVE To provide a targeted portrait of socioeconomic disparities in health care quality in four countries and how those disparities have changed over time. DESIGN Within each country, comparisons between the highest and lowest quintiles of socioeconomic status were made to determine if disparities exist and if any observed disparities have been decreasing over a 5-year period. SETTING ...

PURPOSE To characterize attitudes of residents toward racial/ethnic disparities in health care and to explore the effect of a simple intervention to improve awareness of these disparities. METHODS The authors surveyed residents in internal and emergency medicine rotating through the Coronary Care Unit of a major teaching hospital about their attitudes toward disparities in cardiovascular care...

Substantial research has documented pervasive disparities in the prevalence, severity, and morbidity of asthma among minority populations compared with non-Latino white subjects. The underlying causes of these disparities are not well understood, and as a result, the leverage points to address them remain unclear. A multilevel framework for integrating research in asthma health disparities is p...