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Healthcare
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Health Disparities and Inequalities in Disease Prediction and Treatment
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Health Disparities and Inequalities in Disease Prediction and Treatment

A special issue of Healthcare (ISSN 2227-9032). This special issue belongs to the section "Health Policy".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 December 2024) | Viewed by 2346

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Prachi P. Chavan

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Master of Public Health Program, Eastern Virginia Medical School, P.O. Box 1980, Norfolk, VA 23501, USA
Interests: epidemiology; health disparities; healthcare; cancer survivorship; caregiving; women’s health; hospital readmissions
Dr. Xinhua Yu

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
School of Public Health, University of Memphis, Memphis, TN 38152, USA
Interests: cancer prevention; cancer survivorship; healthcare; depression

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Despite significant progress made in research practices, health disparities persist in the population. Although advanced treatment is available for many chronic diseases, some groups are at increased risk for these diseases, thus increasing mortality. To successfully reduce disparities, it is necessary to address individual biology and socio-behavioral structures that affect disparities. Racial and ethnic disparities often pose barriers in receiving high-quality care. Inequitable access to healthcare is a result of inequities in the distribution of resources that promote better health outcomes.

We are pleased to invite you to provide public health and healthcare professionals with evidence-based findings in health disparities research. We welcome review articles from a global audience describing the current state of health disparities in disease treatment and prevention in their respective regions.

This Special Issue aims to address health disparities among diverse groups of people, leading to improvement in treatment and prevention of chronic diseases and related mortality.

In this Special Issue, original research articles and reviews including observational studies and clinical trials are welcome. Review articles will encompass narrative literature, systematic review, and pooled analysis. Studies including diverse sample populations are welcome, as well as studies that broadly explore inequities in health from an epidemiological perspective. Research areas may include (but not limited to) the following:

  • Needs assessment to address health disparities among diverse population in different countries.
  • Longitudinal studies for early diagnosis and disease prevention among underserved populations.
  • Cross-sectional studies on disease trends and available treatment care.
  • Use of health informatics and technology in reducing health disparities.
  • Role of social media in mitigating disparities among young adults pertaining to health risk behaviors.

We look forward to receiving your contributions.

Dr. Prachi P. Chavan
Dr. Xinhua Yu
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Healthcare is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • racial health disparities
  • ethnic health disparities
  • socioeconomic
  • burden of disease
  • prevention
  • life expectancy
  • neighborhood environment

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Further information on MDPI's Special Issue polices can be found here.

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

10 pages, 1433 KiB  
Article
Increasing Serious Illness Conversations in Patients at High Risk of One-Year Mortality Using Improvement Science: A Quality Improvement Study
by Kanishk D. Sharma, Sandip A. Godambe, Prachi P. Chavan, Agatha Parks-Savage and Marissa Galicia-Castillo
Healthcare 2025, 13(2), 199; https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare13020199 - 20 Jan 2025
Viewed by 597
Abstract
Background: Serious illness conversation (SIC) in an important skillset for clinicians. A review of mortality meetings from an urban academic hospital highlighted the need for early engagement in SICs and advance care planning (ACP) to align medical treatments with patient-centered outcomes. The aim [...] Read more.
Background: Serious illness conversation (SIC) in an important skillset for clinicians. A review of mortality meetings from an urban academic hospital highlighted the need for early engagement in SICs and advance care planning (ACP) to align medical treatments with patient-centered outcomes. The aim of this study was to increase SICs and their documentation in patients with low one-year survival probability identified by updated Charlson Comorbidity Index (CCI) scores. Methods: This was a quality improvement study with data collected pre- and post-intervention at a large urban level one trauma center in Virginia, which also serves as a primary teaching hospital to about 400 residents and fellows. Patient chart reviews were completed to assess medical records and hospitalization data. Chi square tests were used to identify statistical significance with the alpha level set at <0.05. Integrated care managers were trained to identify and discuss high CCI scores during interdisciplinary rounds. Providers were encouraged to document SICs with identified patients in extent of care (EOC) notes within the hospital’s cloud-based electronic health record known as EPIC. Results: Sixty-two patients with high CCI scores were documented, with 16 (25.81%, p = 0.0001) having EOC notes. Patients with documented EOC notes were significantly more likely to change their focus of care, prompting palliative care (63.04% vs. 50%, p = 0.007) and hospice consults (93.48% vs. 68.75%, p = 0.01), compared to those without. Post-intervention surveys revealed that although 50% of providers conducted SICs, fewer used EOC notes for documentation. Conclusion: This initial intervention suggests that the documentation of SICs increases engagement in ACP, palliative care, hospice consultations, and do not resuscitate decisions. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Health Disparities and Inequalities in Disease Prediction and Treatment)
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13 pages, 1721 KiB  
Article
Bidirectional Associations Between Alcohol Drinking and Depressive Symptoms Among US Adults Aged 50 to 75: The US Health and Retirement Study
by Xinhua Yu, Easter P. Gain, Mark’Quest J. Ajoku and Satish K. Kedia
Healthcare 2025, 13(1), 53; https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare13010053 - 31 Dec 2024
Viewed by 626
Abstract
Background/Objectives: Low or moderate alcohol drinking may reduce the risk of depression, but depression may induce alcohol drinking. However, the bidirectional associations between alcohol drinking and depression were inconsistent, and many prior analyses were not properly conducted. This study explored the within-individual [...] Read more.
Background/Objectives: Low or moderate alcohol drinking may reduce the risk of depression, but depression may induce alcohol drinking. However, the bidirectional associations between alcohol drinking and depression were inconsistent, and many prior analyses were not properly conducted. This study explored the within-individual bidirectional associations between alcohol drinking and depressive symptoms under a causal analytic framework. Methods: Using data for the baby boomer cohorts (born between 1948 and 1965) from the Health and Retirement Study (HRS), we employed the unit fixed-effect models with lagged measures to examine the within-individual bidirectional associations between the number of alcohol drinks per week and the changes in the eight-item Center for Epidemiological Studies-Depression (CES-D) scores. Results: Among 11,057 participants at baseline, about 48% were drinkers and 19% had a CES-D ≥4, i.e., at a high risk of depression. Among male low/moderate drinkers, increasing alcohol drinking between consecutive visits was significantly associated with a decrease in depression scores after adjusting for prior alcohol drinking (−0.15 points per 7 drinks/week increase, p = 0.009). Conversely, among male drinkers and female heavy drinkers, increasing depression scores between visits increased alcohol drinking after adjusting for prior depression scores (ranging from 0.22 to 0.79 drinks/week per 1 point increase of depression score, all p values < 0.01). Conclusions: The bidirectional associations between alcohol drinking and depressive symptoms were evident only among male drinkers, and alcohol drinking should not be recommended as a solution for preventing or relieving depressive symptoms. Limitations: Measures of alcohol drinking and depression were coarse, and the study cohorts were limited to the US baby boomer generation. Generalizing findings to other populations should be cautious. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Health Disparities and Inequalities in Disease Prediction and Treatment)
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12 pages, 1613 KiB  
Article
Going Above and Beyond: Bridging the Gap Between Equitable Outcomes and Procedural Fairness in Health Policy Administration
by Danielle N. Gadson and Seri Park
Healthcare 2024, 12(23), 2427; https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare12232427 - 3 Dec 2024
Viewed by 646
Abstract
Background/Objectives: Public health administrators are entrusted to oversee the fair and efficient implementation of public health policy. Professional standards rooted in social justice add an additional ethical standard beyond what is required by procedural equality, reinforcing a service culture of creativity and doing [...] Read more.
Background/Objectives: Public health administrators are entrusted to oversee the fair and efficient implementation of public health policy. Professional standards rooted in social justice add an additional ethical standard beyond what is required by procedural equality, reinforcing a service culture of creativity and doing more with less when resources are restrictive. This study explores this phenomenon within the context of government-subsidized opioid use disorder programming in Pennsylvania. Methods: Twenty-three agencies responsible for opioid treatment referrals in Pennsylvania were surveyed about the effects of meeting social equity needs on their operational and procedural outcomes. Univariate frequencies, cross-tabulations, and percentage comparisons were employed in a descriptive–analytic induction approach to analyze the online survey responses. Results: The survey results showed that 91.4% of administrators identified transportation equity as an important programmatic concern, with 91.3% developing transportation support for their clients although not required or funded by the grant program. Conclusions: Equity-focused interventions necessitated operational creativity and sacrifice to maintain compliance while meeting the unique needs of populations, especially when taking geographical differences into account. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Health Disparities and Inequalities in Disease Prediction and Treatment)
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