Environmental and Socio-Economic Factors as Contributors to Racial Disparities in Diabetes Prevalence

A study conducted by the Hopkins Center for Health Disparities examined the differences in socioeconomic and environmental risk exposures for diabetes in African Americans and white Americans living in integrated communities.

Researchers compared retrospective data—the 2003 National Health Interview Survey and the Exploring Health Disparities in Integrated Communities–Southwest Baltimore Study—to assess the presence of racial disparities for African Americans and whites living under similar socioeconomic conditions. While the presence of diabetes remains high for African Americans, researchers found no racial disparities in diabetes risk exposures between African Americans and White Americans living in socially comparable environments. Instead, researchers suggest that race disparities originate from different health risk environments African Americans and white Americans face living under equal conditions. ]

Read the study.