The Rheumatologist
COVID-19 News
  • Connect with us:
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • YouTube
  • Feed
  • Home
  • Conditions
    • Rheumatoid Arthritis
    • SLE (Lupus)
    • Crystal Arthritis
      • Gout Resource Center
    • Spondyloarthritis
    • Osteoarthritis
    • Soft Tissue Pain
    • Scleroderma
    • Vasculitis
    • Systemic Inflammatory Syndromes
    • Guidelines
  • Resource Centers
    • Axial Spondyloarthritis Resource Center
    • Gout Resource Center
    • Psoriatic Arthritis Resource Center
    • Rheumatoid Arthritis Resource Center
    • Systemic Lupus Erythematosus Resource Center
  • Drug Updates
    • Biologics & Biosimilars
    • DMARDs & Immunosuppressives
    • Topical Drugs
    • Analgesics
    • Safety
    • Pharma Co. News
  • Professional Topics
    • Ethics
    • Legal
    • Legislation & Advocacy
    • Career Development
      • Certification
      • Education & Training
    • Awards
    • Profiles
    • President’s Perspective
    • Rheuminations
    • Interprofessional Perspective
  • Practice Management
    • Billing/Coding
    • Quality Assurance/Improvement
    • Workforce
    • Facility
    • Patient Perspective
    • Electronic Health Records
    • Apps
    • Information Technology
    • From the College
    • Multimedia
      • Audio
      • Video
  • Resources
    • Issue Archives
    • ACR Convergence
      • Systemic Lupus Erythematosus Resource Center
      • Rheumatoid Arthritis Resource Center
      • Gout Resource Center
      • Abstracts
      • Meeting Reports
      • ACR Convergence Home
    • American College of Rheumatology
    • ACR ExamRheum
    • Research Reviews
    • ACR Journals
      • Arthritis & Rheumatology
      • Arthritis Care & Research
      • ACR Open Rheumatology
    • Rheumatology Image Library
    • Treatment Guidelines
    • Rheumatology Research Foundation
    • Events
  • About Us
    • Mission/Vision
    • Meet the Authors
    • Meet the Editors
    • Contribute to The Rheumatologist
    • Subscription
    • Contact
  • Advertise
  • Search
You are here: Home / Articles / Racial Disparities in Rheumatology: What Are We Doing About It?

Racial Disparities in Rheumatology: What Are We Doing About It?

September 20, 2018 • By Mary Beth Nierengarten

  • Tweet
  • Email
Print-Friendly Version / Save PDF
stournsaeh / shutterstock.com

stournsaeh / shutterstock.com

The data tell the story. Despite improvements in overall outcomes for common rheumatologic conditions, such as systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and rheumatoid arthritis (RA), white patients fare better than minority patients, and sometimes substantially better. Even with new biologic therapies that have significantly altered the course of disease for patients with RA, outcomes for minorities lag behind those of whites. A 2013 study by Greenberg et al. showed that white patients with RA had significantly improved outcomes compared with minority patients. Using data collected from a large cohort of community-based rheumatology practices on patients treated between 2005 and 2007 and 2010 and 2012, the study found that disease activity levels and remission rates in whites were significantly better than in minorities during both time periods.1

You Might Also Like
  • Racial Disparities Result in Unprecedented Differences in Outcomes for SLE Patients
  • The Lupus Initiative Launches Cohorts & Partnerships to Reduce Health Disparities & Improve Outcomes
  • A Window into Health Disparities
Explore This Issue
September 2018
Also By This Author
  • ACR Publishes Disease Activity and Functional Status Assessment Measure Recommendations for RA

For patients with lupus, data on outcomes, incidence and prevalence rates continue to show that non-whites bear the greater burden of this disease. Recent studies continue to show a higher incidence and prevalence rates of lupus in minorities compared with whites, with the highest prevalence rates in non-Hispanic black women.2-4 In addition, blacks have earlier onset of the disease and experience increased rates of renal disease and progression to end-stage renal disease (ESRD) compared with whites.4

ad goes here:advert-1
ADVERTISEMENT
SCROLL TO CONTINUE

These recent studies are just a sampling of data long established on the disparate outcomes seen between whites and minorities in rheumatology, and mirror what is well documented in other clinical areas. Just do a PubMed search with “racial disparities” as the search term, and thousands of studies come up documenting and discussing this issue across most, if not all, areas of healthcare.

Recognition of the range and depth of this problem across medicine was highlighted in a report published in 2002 by the Institutes of Health (IOH), titled “Unequal Treatment,” which focused national attention on racial and ethnic disparities in health and spurred the creation of an annual report published by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) that reports on healthcare quality and disparities.5 Called the National Healthcare Quality and Disparities Report, it provides an annual update on quality of and access to healthcare. More recently, national efforts to reduce health disparities include the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Disparities Action Plan in 2011 and the expansion of insurance coverage under the Affordable Care Act.

ad goes here:advert-2
ADVERTISEMENT
SCROLL TO CONTINUE

Just do a PubMed search with ‘racial disparities’ as the search term, & thousands of studies come up.

You can find current data on these efforts and a good discussion of key questions and answers about health disparities at the Henry J Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF).6 Among the important issues addressed by the KFF is the complex and interrelated variables that contribute to health disparities, including social/environmental factors (e.g., poverty, education, proximity to care and neighborhood safety), health system (e.g., how healthcare is organized, financed and delivered), patient factors (e.g., health behaviors) and provider factors (e.g., bias and cultural/linguistic barriers to patient-provider communication).6

Pages: 1 2 3 4 | Single Page

Filed Under: Conditions Tagged With: ethnicity, health disparities, racial disparities, UCOINIssue: September 2018

You Might Also Like:
  • Racial Disparities Result in Unprecedented Differences in Outcomes for SLE Patients
  • The Lupus Initiative Launches Cohorts & Partnerships to Reduce Health Disparities & Improve Outcomes
  • A Window into Health Disparities
  • To Bridge Health Disparities, Diagnose Lupus Early & Improve Access

American College of Rheumatology

Visit the official website for the American College of Rheumatology.

Visit the ACR »

ACR Convergence

Don’t miss rheumatology’s premier scientific meeting for anyone involved in research or the delivery of rheumatologic care or services.

Visit the ACR Convergence site »

Simple Tasks

Learn more about the ACR’s public awareness campaign and how you can get involved. Help increase visibility of rheumatic diseases and decrease the number of people left untreated.

Visit the Simple Tasks site »

The Rheumatologist newsmagazine reports on issues and trends in the management and treatment of rheumatic diseases. The Rheumatologist reaches 11,500 rheumatologists, internists, orthopedic surgeons, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, nurses, and other healthcare professionals who practice, research, or teach in the field of rheumatology.

About Us / Contact Us / Advertise / Privacy Policy / Terms of Use

  • Connect with us:
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • YouTube
  • Feed

Copyright © 2006–2022 American College of Rheumatology. All rights reserved.

ISSN 1931-3268 (print)
ISSN 1931-3209 (online)