American Journal of Medical Quality

Commentary: State Snapshots—A Picture of Unacceptable Variation: Are We Destined to Live With “Geography Is Destiny”?
Jeffrey Brady, Karen Ho, and Carolyn M. Clancy
American Journal of Medical Quality 2008;23 492-495

End-of-Life Decision Making in the Intensive Care Unit: Physician and Nurse Perspectives
Dan M. Westphal and Stefanie Andrea McKee
American Journal of Medical Quality 2009;24 222-228

The Inequality in Health Care Quality
Safiya Abouzaid and Vittorio Maio
American Journal of Medical Quality 2009;24 182-184

Journal: Health Education and Behavior

Lots of stuff under broad categories from the journal Health Education and Behaviors over the last several months.

African Americans

Developing Long-Term Physical Activity Participation: A Grounded Theory Study With African American Women
Amy E. Harley, Janet Buckworth, Mira L. Katz, Sharla K. Willis, Angela Odoms-Young, and Catherine A. Heaney
Health Educ Behav 2009;36 97-112

Effects of Racial Discrimination and Health Behaviors on Mental and Physical Health of Middle-Class African American Men
Sherrill L. Sellers, Vence Bonham, Harold W. Neighbors, and James W. Amell
Health Educ Behav 2009;36 31-44

Neighborhood Environment and Adherence to a Walking Intervention in African American Women
Shannon N. Zenk, JoEllen Wilbur, Edward Wang, Judith McDevitt, April Oh, Richard Block, Sue McNeil, and Nina Savar
Health Educ Behav 2009;36 167-181

Perceptions of the Religion—Health Connection Among African Americans in the Southeastern United States: Sex, Age, and Urban/Rural Differences
Cheryl L. Holt, Emily Schulz, and Theresa A. Wynn
Health Educ Behav 2009;36 62-80

Psychosocial Influences on Suboptimal Adjuvant Breast Cancer Treatment Adherence Among African American Women: Implications for Education and Intervention
Carol Magai, Nathan S. Consedine, Brenda A. Adjei, Dawn Hershman, and Alfred Neugut
Health Educ Behav 2008;35 835-854

Self-Efficacy Mediates the Relationship Between Depressive Symptoms and Medication Adherence Among Hypertensive African Americans
Antoinette Schoenthaler, Gbenga Ogedegbe, and John P. Allegrante
Health Educ Behav 2009;36 127-137

Weighing the Consequences: Self-Disclosure of HIV-Positive Status Among African American Injection Drug Users
Maribel Valle and Judith Levy
Health Educ Behav 2009;36 155-166

Chinese

Development and Evaluation of a Culturally Tailored Educational Video: Changing Breast Cancer–Related Behaviors in Chinese Women
Judy H. Wang, Wenchi Liang, Marc D. Schwartz, Marion M. Lee, Barbara Kreling, and Jeanne S. Mandelblatt
Health Educ Behav 2008;35 806-820

Hispanics

Ecodevelopmental x Intrapersonal Risk: Substance Use and Sexual Behavior in Hispanic Adolescents
Guillermo J. Prado, Seth J. Schwartz, Mildred Maldonado-Molina, Shi Huang, Hilda M. Pantin, Barbara Lopez, and Jose Szapocznik
Health Educ Behav 2009;36 45-61

Evaluating a Stage Model in Predicting Monolingual Spanish-Speaking Latinas’ Cervical Cancer Screening Practices: The Role of Psychosocial and Cultural Predictors
Elva Maria Arredondo, Kathryn Pollak, and Philip R. Costanzo
Health Educ Behav 2008;35 791-805

Improving Diabetes Care and Health Measures Among Hispanics Using Community Health Workers: Results From a Randomized Controlled Trial
Kenneth S. Babamoto, Kwa A. Sey, Angela J. Camilleri, Vicki J. Karlan, Joana Catalasan, and Donald E. Morisky
Health Educ Behav 2009;36 113-126

Influence of Social Context on Eating, Physical Activity, and Sedentary Behaviors of Latina Mothers and Their Preschool-Age Children
Ana C. Lindsay, Katarina M. Sussner, Mary L. Greaney, and Karen E. Peterson
Health Educ Behav 2009;36 81-96

Patient—Provider Communication: Understanding the Role of Patient Activation for Latinos in Mental Health Treatment
Dharma E. Cortes, Norah Mulvaney-Day, Lisa Fortuna, Sarah Reinfeld, and Margarita Alegría
Health Educ Behav 2009;36 138-154

Multiethnic Populations

Estimates of Intraclass Correlation for Variables Related to Behavioral HIV/STD Prevention in a Predominantly African American and Hispanic Sample of Young Women
Sherri L. Pals, Brenda L. Beaty, Samuel F. Posner, and Sheana S. Bull
Health Educ Behav 2009;36 182-194

Lunchtime Practices and Problem Behaviors Among Multiethnic Urban Youth
Tracy R. Nichols, Amanda S. Birnbaum, Kylie Bryant, and Gilbert J. Botvin
Health Educ Behav 2009;36 570-582

Native Americans

A Cervical Cancer Community-Based Participatory Research Project in a Native American Community
Suzanne Christopher, Allison L. Gidley, Bethany Letiecq, Adina Smith, and Alma Knows His Gun McCormick
Health Educ Behav 2008;35 821-834

Refugee Populations

Witnessing Violence Across the Life Course, Depressive Symptoms, and Alcohol Use Among Older Persons
Sha Juan Colbert and Neal Krause
Health Educ Behav 2009;36 259-277

Acta Neurologica Scandinavica

Good to know this isn’t the only place for racial and ethnic disparities in healthcare.

Racial disparity in stroke risk factors: the Berlin&2013;Ibadan experience; a retrospective study
M. O. Owolabi, S. Ugoya, T. Platz
Acta Neurologica Scandinavica, 2009:119(2), 81-87

Dissecting the influence

Health disparities, gotta love ‘em.  It’s desperately hard work figuring out why one group of people have different health status, outcomes or treatment than another.  Could it really be something as simple as the color of their skin or their country of origin?  As far as some researchers can tell, it is.  In some cases there is something about the difference itself that causes the difference.  In other cases it is the social position of the group with the difference that causes it.

This study looks at the convergence of race, economic status and depression.  I haven’t read the article itself and so present it with some trepidation.  These are very complicated issues.  Too small a sample may result in unmerited generalizations.  Too large a sample can muddy up the conclusions.  It’s difficult to find samples that don’t lend themselves to stereotyping.  Finding samples that break down cleanly into categories is tough.  Are the categories artificially imposed?  If so, they may be meaningless to the research.