Research shows many health disparities among different racial and ethnic groups in the United States. Different outcomes in mental and physical health exist between all U.S. Census-recognized racial groups, but these differences stem from different historical and current factors, including genetics, socioeconomic factors, and racism. Research has demonstrated that numerous health care professionals show implicit bias in the way that they treat patients. Certain diseases have a higher prevalence among specific racial groups, and life expectancy also varies across groups.
Background
The U.S. Census definition of race is often applied in biomedical research in the United States. According to the Census Bureau in 2018, race refers to one's self-identification with a certain racial group. The Bureau also specifies that its use of "race" is as a social concept, not a biological or anthropological one. The Census Bureau recognizes five races: Black or African American, White (European American), Asian, Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander, and American Indian or Alaska Native. Despite the fact that the United States continues to become more diverse, these Census categories have not changed for almost 20 years. The Census Bureau also recognizes differences in ethnicity among the population, and it defines ethnicity as whether a person is of Hispanic origin or not. For this reason, ethnicity is broken out into two categories in its data, Hispanic or Latino and Not Hispanic or Latino. Hispanics may report as any race.
The 2010 U.S. Census further specifies the number of Americans who identified with each racial and ethnic group; in 2010, 38.9 million identified as African American, 14.6 million as Asian American, 2.9 million as American Indian or Alaskan Native and 50.4 million as Hispanic or Latino.
Measures of the relationship between race and medicine are imperfect and inconsistent. The 2000 U.S. Census definition is inconsistently applied across the range of studies that address race as a medical factor, making it more difficult to assess racial categorization in medicine. Additionally, the socially constructed nature of race makes it so that the different health outcomes experienced by different racial groups can be connected to social factors rather than inherent biological ones.
There are significant disparities in health outcomes between the five racial groups recognized by the U.S. Census. These health disparities are in part caused by different levels of income across the five groups recognized by the U.S. Census. There are also notable differences in access to healthcare and the quality of healthcare received by those who identify with different racial categories.
Bias and racism also contribute to disparities in health outcomes. Non-white racial groups may experience bias and racism within the medical system, impacting these groups' access to and quality of care. Additionally, the racism experienced in daily life affects health outcomes. The stress associated with racism can negatively impact a person's physical and mental health and has been shown to contribute to health problems such as depression, anxiety, insomnia, heart disease, skin rashes, and gastrointestinal problems. As a scientifically studied topic in medicine, racism's Medical Subject Headings code for the United States National Library of Medicine's MEDLARS/MEDLINE, PubMed and PubMed Central bibliographic and open access medical journal databases is D063505.
Life expectancy
The twentieth century witnessed a great expansion of the upper bounds of the human life span. At the beginning of the century, average life expectancy in the United States was 47 years. By the century's end, the average life expectancy had risen to over 70 years, and it was not unusual for Americans to exceed 80 years of age. However, although longevity in the U.S. population has increased substantially, race disparities in longevity have been persistent. African American life expectancy at birth is persistently five to seven years lower than European Americans. By 2018 that difference had shrunk to 3.6 years.
As of 2020, Hispanics had a life expectancy at birth of 78.8 years, followed by non-Hispanic Whites at 77.6 years and non-Hispanic blacks at 71.8 Years. In 2021, life expectancy for Native Americans was 65 years. For black Americans, 71; for white Americans, 76; for Hispanic Americans, 78; and 84 for Asian Americans.