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Defining disparity, equity, and justice

Search filters objective

The objective of the search filters found on this page is to point to research that focuses on issues of social just, disparities, equity, and social determinants of health. The search filters on this page include specific health-related disparities (access to healthcare, insurance, etc. as well as  very broad searches for social justice and equity. 

See also:


What is social justice? 

American Public Health Association (APHA) 

"Social justice is the view that everyone deserves equal rights and opportunities —this includes the right to good health. Yet today, there are inequities in health that are avoidable, unnecessary and unjust. These inequities are the result of policies and practices that create an unequal distribution of money, power and resources among communities based on race, class, gender, place and other factors. To assure that everyone has the opportunity to attain their highest level of health, we must address the social determinants of health AND equity."


"Health disparity" vs "Health equity"

From cms.gov: "...health equity means the attainment of the highest level of health for all people, where everyone has a fair and just opportunity to attain their optimal health regardless of race, ethnicity, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, socioeconomic status, geography, preferred language, or other factors that affect access to care and health outcomes."

Healthy People 2030 defines:

  • health equity as “the attainment of the highest level of health for all people. Achieving health equity requires valuing everyone equally with focused and ongoing societal efforts to address avoidable inequalities, historical and contemporary injustices, and the elimination of health and health care disparities.”
  • health disparity as “a particular type of health difference that is closely linked with social, economic, and/or environmental disadvantage. Health disparities adversely affect groups of people who have systematically experienced greater obstacles to health based on their racial or ethnic group; religion; socioeconomic status; gender; age; mental health; cognitive, sensory, or physical disability; sexual orientation or gender identity; geographic location; or other characteristics historically linked to discrimination or exclusion.”

Carter-Pokras O, Baquet C. What is a "health disparity"? Public Health Rep. 2002 Sep-Oct;117(5):426-34. doi: 10.1093/phr/117.5.426. PMID: 12500958; PMCID: PMC1497467.

Braveman P. What are health disparities and health equity? We need to be clear. Public Health Rep. 2014 Jan-Feb;129 Suppl 2(Suppl 2):5-8. doi: 10.1177/00333549141291S203. PMID: 24385658; PMCID: PMC3863701

"Health equity means social justice in health (i.e., no one is denied the possibility to be healthy for belonging to a group that has historically been economically/socially disadvantaged). Health disparities are the metric we use to measure progress toward achieving health equity."

HP 2030: About Disparities Data

  • "Healthy People 2030 includes health disparities data for population-based core objectives with available demographic group data. Health disparities are differences in health that are closely linked to social determinants of health."

Health Equity in Healthy People 2030

  • "As Healthy People has evolved over the decades to reflect the most current science and address the latest public health priorities, it has strengthened its focus on health equity. This focus is reflected in one of the overarching goals of Healthy People 2030: “Eliminate health disparities, achieve health equity, and attain health literacy to improve the health and well-being of all."

What are the Social Determinants of Health (SDOH)?

From: US Dept. of Health & Human Services

"Social determinants of health (SDOH) are the conditions in the environments where people are born, live, learn, work, play, worship, and age that affect a wide range of health, functioning, and quality-of-life outcomes and risks."


PROGRESS-Plus equity framework

The Cochrane Handbook has an excellent chapter covering equity and specific populations. They describe the PROGRESS-Plus (Place of residence, Race/ethnicity/culture/language, Occupation, Gender/sex, Religion, Education, Socio-economic status, Social capital and other characteristics (‘Plus’) such as sexual orientation, age and disability) framework in:

Welch VA, Petkovic J, Jull J, Hartling L, Klassen T, Kristjansson E, Pardo Pardo J, Petticrew M, Stott DJ, Thomson D, Ueffing E, Williams K, Young C, Tugwell P. Chapter 16: Equity and specific populations. In: Higgins JPT, Thomas J, Chandler J, Cumpston M, Li T, Page MJ, Welch VA (editors). Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews of Interventions version 6.4 (updated August 2023). Cochrane, 2023. 

See also: O'Neill J, Tabish H, Welch V, et al. Applying an equity lens to interventions: using PROGRESS ensures consideration of socially stratifying factors to illuminate inequities in health. J Clin Epidemiol 2014; 67(1): 56–64. DOI: 10.1016/j.jclinepi.2013.08.005. PMID: 24189091

Social determinants of health

Study on searching the literature for SDOH

Hanneke R, Brunskill A. Searching for the social determinants of health: observations from evidence synthesis publications. Syst Rev. 2024 May 16;13(1):134. doi: 10.1186/s13643-024-02551-y. PMID: 38755700; PMCID: PMC11097542.

Article takeaways:

Searching for SDOH requires an approach that is flexible and combines multiple terms and concepts. This page has searches that focus on specific aspects of SDOH but none address all aspects of SDOH. Consider combining the broad SDOH approach (which finds ONLY those articles that specifically mention SDOH) along with specific aspects (access to healthcare, race/ethnicity, etc.) for best retrieval of studies.

Social determinants of health (Updated 23 May 2024)

Search specifically for those articles in which the authors focus on SDOH.

("Social Determinants of Health"[mesh:noexp] OR SDOH[TIAB] OR "determinants health"[TIAB:~2] OR "social determinants"[TIAB:~1])

Economic stability

Poverty, social class, etc. (4 September 2024)

(poverty[mesh:noexp] OR "social class"[mesh:noexp] OR "social determinants of health"[mesh:noexp] OR "socioeconomic factors"[mesh:noexp] OR "economic distress"[TIAB:~2] OR "economic distressed"[TIAB:~2] OR "economic factors"[TIAB:~2] OR "economic stability"[TIAB] OR"economical distress"[TIAB:~2] OR "economical distressed"[TIAB:~2] OR "economical factors"[TIAB:~2] OR "economically disadvantaged"[TIAB] OR "economically distress"[TIAB:~2] OR "economically distressed"[TIAB:~2] OR "economically factors"[TIAB:~2] OR "economically stable"[TIAB] OR "income"[TIAB] OR "Poverty"[TIAB] OR "social class"[TIAB:~2] OR "social determinants"[TIAB:~2] OR "social disparities"[TIAB:~2] OR "social disparity"[TIAB:~2] OR "social inequities"[TIAB:~2] OR "social inequity"[TIAB:~2] OR "social status"[TIAB:~2] OR "socially class"[TIAB:~2] OR "socially determinants"[TIAB:~2] OR "socially disadvantaged"[TIAB] OR "socially disparities"[TIAB:~2] OR "socially disparity"[TIAB:~2] OR "socially inequities"[TIAB:~2] OR "socially inequity"[TIAB:~2] OR "socially status"[TIAB:~2] OR "socioeconomic class"[TIAB:~2] OR "socioeconomic determinants"[TIAB:~2] OR "socioeconomic disparities"[TIAB:~2] OR "socioeconomic disparity"[TIAB:~2] OR "socioeconomic inequities"[TIAB:~2] OR "socioeconomic inequity"[TIAB:~2] OR "socioeconomic status"[TIAB:~2])

Search filters for disparities

Broadest disparities search filter (Updated 22 March 2024)

This search filter does not link disparities, inequities, etc. to health outcomes nor does it focus on items in the PROGRESS-Plus framework.

("Health Disparate, Minority and Vulnerable Populations"[MeSH:noexp] OR "Health Inequities"[MeSH:noexp] OR "Health Status Disparities"[MeSH:noexp] OR "Healthcare Disparities"[MeSH:noexp] OR "Socioeconomic Disparities in Health"[Mesh:NoExp] OR "Social justice"[MeSH:noexp] OR Disparities[TIAB] OR disparity[TIAB] OR inequalities[TIAB] OR inequality[TIAB] OR inequities[TIAB] OR inequity[TIAB] OR "disadvantaged group"[TIAB:~2] OR "disadvantaged groups"[TIAB:~2] OR  "social disadvantage"[TIAB:~2] OR "social disadvantaged"[TIAB:~2] OR "social justice"[TIAB:~1] OR "social vulnerability"[TIAB:~2] OR "socially disadvantaged"[TIAB:~2] OR "socially vulnerable"[TIAB:~2])

Example

Disparities + Hispanic/Latinx + cancer screening + US studies filter

  • Copy and paste the text of the search below in PubMed to see the result.

("Health Disparate, Minority and Vulnerable Populations"[MeSH:noexp] OR "Health Inequities"[MeSH:noexp] OR "Health Status Disparities"[MeSH:noexp] OR "Healthcare Disparities"[MeSH:noexp] OR "Socioeconomic Disparities in Health"[Mesh:NoExp] OR "Social justice"[MeSH:noexp] OR Disparities[TIAB] OR disparity[TIAB] OR inequalities[TIAB] OR inequality[TIAB] OR inequities[TIAB] OR inequity[TIAB] OR "disadvantaged group"[TIAB:~2] OR "disadvantaged groups"[TIAB:~2] OR  "social disadvantage"[TIAB:~2] OR "social disadvantaged"[TIAB:~2] OR "social justice"[TIAB:~1] OR "social vulnerability"[TIAB:~2] OR "socially disadvantaged"[TIAB:~2] OR "socially vulnerable"[TIAB:~2]) AND ("Hispanic OR Latino"[MeSH:noexp] OR "Mexican Americans"[MeSH:noexp] OR "Cuban American"[TIAB:~1] OR "Cuban Americans"[TIAB:~1] OR Hispanic[TIAB] OR Hispanics[TIAB] OR Latina[TIAB] OR Latinas[TIAB] OR Latino[TIAB] OR Latinos[TIAB] OR Latinx[TIAB] OR "Mexican American"[TIAB:~1] OR "Mexican Americans"[TIAB:~1] OR "Puerto Rican"[TIAB:~1] OR "Puerto Ricans"[TIAB:~1] OR "Spanish origin"[TIAB:~1] OR "Spanish origins"[TIAB:~1]) AND ("Early Detection of Cancer"[Mesh:NoExp] OR "Mammography"[Mesh] OR (cancer[tiab] AND early detection[tiab]) OR mammogra*[tiab]) NOT ((africa[MESH] OR asia[MESH] OR australia[MESH] OR canada[MESH] OR central america[mesh] OR europe[MESH] OR Mexico[MESH] OR south america[MESH]) NOT (north america[MeSH:noexp] OR united states[MESH]))


Disparities linked to health/healthcare

These terms specifically links "health" and "healthcare" with disparites/inequalities/inequities. 

("Health Disparate, Minority and Vulnerable Populations"[MeSH:noexp]  OR "Health Inequities"[MeSH:noexp] OR "Health Status Disparities"[MeSH:noexp] OR "Healthcare Disparities"[MeSH:noexp] OR "Socioeconomic Disparities in Health"[Mesh:NoExp] OR "Social justice"[MeSH:noexp] OR "health disparities"[TIAB:~2] OR "health disparity"[TIAB:~2] OR "health inequalities"[TIAB:~2] OR "health inequality"[TIAB:~2] OR "health inequities"[TIAB:~2] OR "health inequity"[TIAB:~2] OR "healthcare disparities"[TIAB:~2] OR "healthcare disparity"[TIAB:~2] OR "healthcare inequalities"[TIAB:~2] OR "healthcare inequality"[TIAB:~2] OR "healthcare inequities"[TIAB:~2] OR "healthcare inequity"[TIAB:~2])

Example

Health disparities + Hispanic/Latinx + cancer screening + US studies filter 

("Health Disparate, Minority and Vulnerable Populations"[MeSH:noexp] OR "Health Inequities"[MeSH:noexp] OR "Health Status Disparities"[MeSH:noexp] OR "Healthcare Disparities"[MeSH:noexp] OR "Socioeconomic Disparities in Health"[Mesh:NoExp] OR "health disparities"[TIAB:~2] OR "health disparity"[TIAB:~2] OR "health inequalities"[TIAB:~2] OR "health inequality"[TIAB:~2] OR "health inequities"[TIAB:~2] OR "health inequity"[TIAB:~2] OR "healthcare disparities"[TIAB:~2] OR "healthcare disparity"[TIAB:~2] OR "healthcare inequalities"[TIAB:~2] OR "healthcare inequality"[TIAB:~2] OR "healthcare inequities"[TIAB:~2] OR "healthcare inequity"[TIAB:~2] OR "health justice"[TIAB:~2] OR "healthcare justice"[TIAB:~2]) AND ("Hispanic OR Latino"[MeSH:noexp] OR "Mexican Americans"[MeSH:noexp] OR "Cuban American"[TIAB:~1] OR "Cuban Americans"[TIAB:~1] OR Hispanic[TIAB] OR Hispanics[TIAB] OR Latina[TIAB] OR Latinas[TIAB] OR Latino[TIAB] OR Latinos[TIAB] OR Latinx[TIAB] OR "Mexican American"[TIAB:~1] OR "Mexican Americans"[TIAB:~1] OR "Puerto Rican"[TIAB:~1] OR "Puerto Ricans"[TIAB:~1] OR "Spanish origin"[TIAB:~1] OR "Spanish origins"[TIAB:~1] OR "Spanish speaking"[TIAB:~1]) AND ("Health Equity"[MeSH:noexp] OR "Health Services Accessibility"[MeSH:noexp] OR "Health Services Needs and Demand"[MeSH:noexp] OR "Medically Underserved Area"[MeSH:noexp] OR "Medically Uninsured"[MeSH:noexp] OR "Medicaid"[MeSH:noexp] OR ("health care"[TIAB:~1] AND "care access"[TIAB:~1]) OR "healthcare access"[TIAB:~1] OR ("health care"[TIAB:~1] AND "care quality"[TIAB:~1]) OR "healthcare quality"[TIAB:~1] OR Medicaid[TIAB] OR "physician shortage"[TIAB:~1] OR "physicians shortage"[TIAB:~1] OR underserved[TIAB] OR uninsured[TIAB]) NOT ((africa[MESH] OR asia[MESH] OR australia[MESH] OR canada[MESH] OR central america[mesh] OR europe[MESH] OR Mexico[MESH] OR south america[MESH]) NOT (north america[MeSH:noexp] OR united states[MESH]))

This search is composed of the following concepts:

Health disparities

("Health Disparate, Minority and Vulnerable Populations"[MeSH:noexp] OR "Health Inequities"[MeSH:noexp] OR "Health Status Disparities"[MeSH:noexp] OR "Healthcare Disparities"[MeSH:noexp] OR "Socioeconomic Disparities in Health"[Mesh:NoExp] OR "health disparities"[TIAB:~2] OR "health disparity"[TIAB:~2] OR "health inequalities"[TIAB:~2] OR "health inequality"[TIAB:~2] OR "health inequities"[TIAB:~2] OR "health inequity"[TIAB:~2] OR "healthcare disparities"[TIAB:~2] OR "healthcare disparity"[TIAB:~2] OR "healthcare inequalities"[TIAB:~2] OR "healthcare inequality"[TIAB:~2] OR "healthcare inequities"[TIAB:~2] OR "healthcare inequity"[TIAB:~2] OR "health justice"[TIAB:~2] OR "healthcare justice"[TIAB:~2])

AND

Hispanics/Latinos/Latinas

("Hispanic OR Latino"[MeSH:noexp] OR "Mexican Americans"[MeSH:noexp] OR "Cuban American"[TIAB:~1] OR "Cuban Americans"[TIAB:~1] OR Hispanic[TIAB] OR Hispanics[TIAB] OR Latina[TIAB] OR Latinas[TIAB] OR Latino[TIAB] OR Latinos[TIAB] OR Latinx[TIAB] OR "Mexican American"[TIAB:~1] OR "Mexican Americans"[TIAB:~1] OR "Puerto Rican"[TIAB:~1] OR "Puerto Ricans"[TIAB:~1] OR "Spanish origin"[TIAB:~1] OR "Spanish origins"[TIAB:~1] OR "Spanish speaking"[TIAB:~1])

AND

Access to to healthcare

("Health Equity"[MeSH:noexp] OR "Health Services Accessibility"[MeSH:noexp] OR "Health Services Needs and Demand"[MeSH:noexp] OR "Medically Underserved Area"[MeSH:noexp] OR "Medically Uninsured"[MeSH:noexp] OR "Medicaid"[MeSH:noexp] OR ("health care"[TIAB:~1] AND "care access"[TIAB:~1]) OR "healthcare access"[TIAB:~1] OR ("health care"[TIAB:~1] AND "care quality"[TIAB:~1]) OR "healthcare quality"[TIAB:~1] OR Medicaid[TIAB] OR "physician shortage"[TIAB:~1] OR "physicians shortage"[TIAB:~1] OR underserved[TIAB] OR uninsured[TIAB])

NOT

((africa[MESH] OR asia[MESH] OR australia[MESH] OR canada[MESH] OR central america[mesh] OR europe[MESH] OR Mexico[MESH] OR south america[MESH]) NOT (north america[MeSH:noexp] OR united states[MESH]))

The last phrase limits (somewhat) to US studies and can be found on the Search limits page.