The global health equity research community continued its fast pace of article publications as 2023 came to an end. Among the large body of impactful research published at year-end is the recent notable study on “Residential Structural Racism and Prevalence of Chronic Health Conditions.” The study, conducted by health equity researchers from several institutions, found that structural racism is tied to structures at the very localized neighborhood level that, in turn, are highly associated with disproportionately worse health outcomes.
The study was unique in several respects. First, the research team leveraged a substantial set of data and deidentified electronic health records in order to evaluate how a vast array of data inputs relates to the existence of structural racism, as well as to the incidence in the studied neighborhoods of three chronic health conditions: diabetes, hypertension, and chronic kidney disease. These three conditions have historically impacted minorities and traditionally marginalized communities to a disproportionately high extent.
The research also was a first of its kind in its incorporation of thousands of points of data covering an expansion range of social determinants of health, combined with its focus on data relating to the characteristics of these localized neighborhoods. Specifically, by evaluating the key chronic health conditions in each of the 150 neighborhoods comprising the geographical scope of the research, the study yielded a number of important results, including the following:
<> Neighborhoods with the greatest existence of diabetes, hypertension, and chronic kidney disease were more commonly those with the lowest percentage of White residents;
<> Neighborhoods with higher rates of diabetes, hypertension, and chronic kidney disease also tended to have the lowest income and lowest rates of college education; and
<> Increased burden of structural racism indicators, such as income, poverty, crime and eviction rates, and election participation, was associated with a higher incidence of diabetes, hypertension, and chronic kidney disease.
The timeliness of this study is also underscored by the immense current focus by health equity advocates on the importance of incorporating social determinants of health into comprehensive analyses of health equity. The full research report can be found here.
