TY - JOUR
T1 - Trends in Differences in Health Status and Health Care Access and Affordability by Race and Ethnicity in the United States, 1999-2018
AU - Mahajan, Shiwani
AU - Caraballo, César
AU - Lu, Yuan
AU - Valero-Elizondo, Javier
AU - Massey, Daisy
AU - Annapureddy, Amarnath R.
AU - Roy, Brita
AU - Riley, Carley
AU - Murugiah, Karthik
AU - Onuma, Oyere
AU - Nunez-Smith, Marcella
AU - Forman, Howard P.
AU - Nasir, Khurram
AU - Herrin, Jeph
AU - Krumholz, Harlan M.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 American Medical Association. All rights reserved.
PY - 2021/8/17
Y1 - 2021/8/17
N2 - Importance: The elimination of racial and ethnic differences in health status and health care access is a US goal, but it is unclear whether the country has made progress over the last 2 decades. Objective: To determine 20-year trends in the racial and ethnic differences in self-reported measures of health status and health care access and affordability among adults in the US. Design, Setting, and Participants: Serial cross-sectional study of National Health Interview Survey data, 1999-2018, that included 596355 adults. Exposures: Self-reported race, ethnicity, and income level. Main Outcomes and Measures: Rates and racial and ethnic differences in self-reported health status and health care access and affordability. Results: The study included 596355 adults (mean [SE] age, 46.2 [0.07] years, 51.8% [SE, 0.10] women), of whom 4.7% were Asian, 11.8% were Black, 13.8% were Latino/Hispanic, and 69.7% were White. The estimated percentages of people with low income were 28.2%, 46.1%, 51.5%, and 23.9% among Asian, Black, Latino/Hispanic, and White individuals, respectively. Black individuals with low income had the highest estimated prevalence of poor or fair health status (29.1% [95% CI, 26.5%-31.7%] in 1999 and 24.9% [95% CI, 21.8%-28.3%] in 2018), while White individuals with middle and high income had the lowest (6.4% [95% CI, 5.9%-6.8%] in 1999 and 6.3% [95% CI, 5.8%-6.7%] in 2018). Black individuals had a significantly higher estimated prevalence of poor or fair health status than White individuals in 1999, regardless of income strata (P <.001 for the overall and low-income groups; P =.03 for middle and high-income group). From 1999 to 2018, racial and ethnic gaps in poor or fair health status did not change significantly, with or without income stratification, except for a significant decrease in the difference between White and Black individuals with low income (-6.7 percentage points [95% CI, -11.3 to -2.0]; P =.005); the difference in 2018 was no longer statistically significant (P =.13). Black and White individuals had the highest levels of self-reported functional limitations, which increased significantly among all groups over time. There were significant reductions in the racial and ethnic differences in some self-reported measures of health care access, but not affordability, with and without income stratification. Conclusions and Relevance: In a serial cross-sectional survey study of US adults from 1999 to 2018, racial and ethnic differences in self-reported health status, access, and affordability improved in some subgroups, but largely persisted..
AB - Importance: The elimination of racial and ethnic differences in health status and health care access is a US goal, but it is unclear whether the country has made progress over the last 2 decades. Objective: To determine 20-year trends in the racial and ethnic differences in self-reported measures of health status and health care access and affordability among adults in the US. Design, Setting, and Participants: Serial cross-sectional study of National Health Interview Survey data, 1999-2018, that included 596355 adults. Exposures: Self-reported race, ethnicity, and income level. Main Outcomes and Measures: Rates and racial and ethnic differences in self-reported health status and health care access and affordability. Results: The study included 596355 adults (mean [SE] age, 46.2 [0.07] years, 51.8% [SE, 0.10] women), of whom 4.7% were Asian, 11.8% were Black, 13.8% were Latino/Hispanic, and 69.7% were White. The estimated percentages of people with low income were 28.2%, 46.1%, 51.5%, and 23.9% among Asian, Black, Latino/Hispanic, and White individuals, respectively. Black individuals with low income had the highest estimated prevalence of poor or fair health status (29.1% [95% CI, 26.5%-31.7%] in 1999 and 24.9% [95% CI, 21.8%-28.3%] in 2018), while White individuals with middle and high income had the lowest (6.4% [95% CI, 5.9%-6.8%] in 1999 and 6.3% [95% CI, 5.8%-6.7%] in 2018). Black individuals had a significantly higher estimated prevalence of poor or fair health status than White individuals in 1999, regardless of income strata (P <.001 for the overall and low-income groups; P =.03 for middle and high-income group). From 1999 to 2018, racial and ethnic gaps in poor or fair health status did not change significantly, with or without income stratification, except for a significant decrease in the difference between White and Black individuals with low income (-6.7 percentage points [95% CI, -11.3 to -2.0]; P =.005); the difference in 2018 was no longer statistically significant (P =.13). Black and White individuals had the highest levels of self-reported functional limitations, which increased significantly among all groups over time. There were significant reductions in the racial and ethnic differences in some self-reported measures of health care access, but not affordability, with and without income stratification. Conclusions and Relevance: In a serial cross-sectional survey study of US adults from 1999 to 2018, racial and ethnic differences in self-reported health status, access, and affordability improved in some subgroups, but largely persisted..
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85112867559&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85112867559&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1001/jama.2021.9907
DO - 10.1001/jama.2021.9907
M3 - Article
C2 - 34402830
AN - SCOPUS:85112867559
SN - 0098-7484
VL - 326
SP - 637
EP - 648
JO - JAMA - Journal of the American Medical Association
JF - JAMA - Journal of the American Medical Association
IS - 7
ER -