Racial/Ethnic Health and Healthcare Disparities Measurement

This chapter describes methods of measuring health disparities and of identifying potential mechanisms underlying those disparities using statistical tools based in methods of identifying causal inference. Researchers are encouraged to be explicit about their definition of disparities and to be mindful that any analytical method used to measure disparities carries an implicit definition of disparity, and thus an inherent ethical stance about how disparities arise and can be overcome. We provide examples of different disparities measurement methods and the definition that they imply and discuss decomposition methods that are useful in breaking down disparities into parts that are and are not amenable to intervention. We problematize methods that attempt to identify the “causal effect of race/ethnicity on health,” recommending instead the identification of causal effects of interpersonal and societal responses to racial/ethnic identity and health.