Department of Society, Human Development and Health, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, MA 02115, USA.
Ann N Y Acad Sci. 2010 Feb;1186:69-101. doi: 10.1111/j.1749-6632.2009.05339.x.
This paper provides an overview of racial variations in health and shows that differences in socioeconomic status (SES) across racial groups are a major contributor to racial disparities in health. However, race reflects multiple dimensions of social inequality and individual and household indicators of SES capture relevant but limited aspects of this phenomenon. Research is needed that will comprehensively characterize the critical pathogenic features of social environments and identify how they combine with each other to affect health over the life course. Migration history and status are also important predictors of health and research is needed that will enhance understanding of the complex ways in which race, SES, and immigrant status combine to affect health. Fully capturing the role of race in health also requires rigorous examination of the conditions under which medical care and genetic factors can contribute to racial and SES differences in health. The paper identifies research priorities in all of these areas.
本文概述了健康方面的种族差异，并表明社会经济地位（SES）在不同种族群体中的差异是造成健康方面种族差异的主要原因。然而，种族反映了社会不平等的多个方面，SES 的个人和家庭指标仅能反映出这一现象的部分相关内容。需要开展研究来全面描述社会环境的关键致病特征，并确定它们如何相互结合影响整个生命周期的健康。移民历史和地位也是健康的重要预测因素，需要开展研究来增进对种族、SES 和移民地位相互结合影响健康的复杂方式的理解。要全面了解种族在健康方面的作用，还需要严格审查医疗保健和遗传因素在多大程度上促成了健康方面的种族和 SES 差异。本文确定了所有这些领域的研究重点。
