A new report from CareQuest Institute for Oral Health reveals that lower-income families in the United States paid 7.4 times more in out-of-pocket dental care expenses compared to high-income families between 2007 and 2021. This stark disparity highlights the growing inequities in access to affordable dental care across income levels. The report, titled “Lower-Income Families Still Spend More on Dental Care,” shows that the gap in dental care expenditures between the poorest and wealthiest families has widened over time. In 2007, the poorest families paid 5.5 times more, indicating a significant increase in the disparity. Additionally, the study found that families living…
Author: Disparity Matters
The National Cancer Institute is funding a groundbreaking $12.45 million study to investigate cancer causes in Asian Americans, a historically understudied group in cancer research. This initiative marks the first long-term study of its kind, aiming to diagnose cancer causes in this population. Led by researchers from UC San Francisco and UC Irvine, the study seeks to address significant gaps in understanding cancer patterns among Asian Americans. Scarlett Lin Gomez, PhD, MPH, from UCSF’s Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center, emphasized the importance of this research, stating, “The fact there’s been so little funded research in the cancer etiology of…
Scientists have discovered a potential mechanism driving aggressive lung cancer tumors in patients living in neighborhoods with high levels of violent crime. The study, published in Cancer Research Communications, sheds light on the persistent disparity in lung cancer incidence between Black and white men in the United States. Researchers from the University of Illinois found that stress responses differ significantly between individuals residing in areas with varying levels of violent crime. They observed distinct patterns of glucocorticoid receptor (GR) binding and gene expression in lung cancer tumors and healthy lung tissue, which correlated with patients’ zip codes. The study revealed…
A recent report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has revealed a significant disparity in swimming ability among adults in the United States, with potentially life-threatening consequences. According to the study, one in four Latino adults (26%) do not know how to swim, compared to only 6% of white adults. This stark difference highlights a concerning inequality that puts a substantial portion of the population at risk of drowning. The report, titled “Vital Signs: Drowning Death Rates, Self-Reported Swimming Ability, Swimming Lesson Participation, and Recreational Water Exposure — United States, 2019-2023,” also found that 72% of Hispanic adults…
An American Diabetes Association study highlights disparities in continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) access for children with type 1 diabetes, revealing delays for publicly insured and minority children. The research, presented at the 84th American Diabetes Association Scientific Sessions, underscores the urgent need for more equitable access to diabetes technology in the United States. Principal investigator Dr. Mette K. Borbjerg (above) from the Steno Diabetes Center North Denmark and the Division of Pediatric Endocrinology at the University of California San Francisco (UCSF) emphasized the significance of timely CGM access: “Our results highlight the marked difference in HbA1c in children that receive…
In a recent study, LDI Senior Fellow Nadir Yehya, Associate Professor of Anesthesiology, Critical Care and Pediatrics at the Perelman School of Medicine, highlighted the need for more diversity in pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) studies. Yehya’s team examined consent rates in the PICU at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. They found that multiple social and demographic factors led to lower rates of consent. However, when only those who were approached for research studies were considered, many of these disparities disappeared, although Black children remained less likely to participate. The study revealed that lower rates of approach, such as parents not…
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has awarded $15 million to establish two research centers focused on addressing health disparities in uterine fibroids, particularly among Black women. The Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, along with the NIH Office of Women’s Health Research, is funding this initiative to advance studies on uterine leiomyoma, commonly known as fibroids. Uterine fibroids, non-cancerous tumors that grow in or on the uterine wall, affect approximately 70% of White women and 80-90% of Black women in their lifetime. However, Black women face more severe symptoms and complications, including faster-growing and more…
New research reveals significant disparities in the timely initiation of continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) among children with type 1 diabetes, potentially exacerbating racial and ethnic health inequalities. The study, presented at the American Diabetes Association’s 84th Scientific Sessions in Orlando, found that publicly insured children and those from historically marginalized racial or ethnic groups experienced delays in starting CGM compared to privately insured and White, non-Latinx children. Lead author Dr. Mette K Borbjerg from the University of California San Francisco reported that children who began CGM within six months of diagnosis had an average HbA1c of 7.5%, compared to 8.4% for…
Rural and reservation areas in South Dakota face significant challenges in providing adequate health care, with barriers to access and negative health outcomes prevalent, according to health care providers and administrators across the state. The patchwork nature of the rural and reservation health care system often requires compassion, innovation, and teamwork to keep people healthy. Chronic underfunding of Indian Health Services (IHS) and other government tribal health programs exacerbates these issues, particularly for Native American communities. Sara DeCoteau, who runs the health program for the Sisseton-Wahpeton Oyate tribe, highlighted staff recruitment and retention as a major issue. “For years and…
Black patients are more likely to experience adverse cardiovascular outcomes after systemic androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) for prostate cancer, according to a retrospective cohort study involving 3,543 prostate cancer patients treated with the therapy between 2008 and 2021. The researchers found that the risk for these adverse events was 38 percent increased in Blacks, with the strongest associations seen for incident heart failure, cerebrovascular disease, and peripheral artery disease. Overall, 98 percent of the disparity in adverse event risk between Black and White patients was mediated by the social vulnerability index, specifically the socioeconomic status theme. “Multilevel targeted interventions tailored to the…