Important: This page is general information, not medical advice. It does not recommend or prescribe any treatment. Always consult your doctor or pharmacist before starting, stopping or changing any medicine.
About Health Disparities
Health disparities are health differences between different groups of people. These health differences may include:
- How many people get certain diseases
- How severe the diseases are
- How many people have complications because of the diseases
- How many people die from a disease
- Whether people can get health care
- How many people get screened for a disease
These groups of people may be based on:
- Race
- Ethnicity
- Immigrant status
- Disability
- Sex or gender
- Sexual orientation
- Geography
- Income
- Level of education
It sits within Health System and Population Groups.
The lead U.S. institute for this subject is the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities.
When to speak to someone. Reading about a topic cannot tell you whether it applies to you. Speak to a doctor or pharmacist if symptoms are severe, sudden, getting worse, or simply not going away — and seek emergency care immediately for chest pain, breathing difficulty, sudden weakness or confusion, or a serious allergic reaction.
Research on Health Disparities
521 studies areregistered for this condition on ClinicalTrials.gov, the U.S. National Library of Medicine's public registry. A selection is below — the links go straight to the registry entry, not to a summary of ours.
What a registered study does and does not mean. Registration means a study exists and has been declared publicly. It says nothing about whether the treatment being tested works, is safe, or is available to you. Many studies find no benefit — that is what research is for. Never seek out an experimental treatment on the strength of a registry entry alone.
Research currently under way
- A Natural History of Cardiometabolic Disease Among US Bhutanese: Developing the Cross-Sectional Bhutanese Community of Central Ohio Health Study to Understand Acculturation as Synergizing Socioenvironmental and Biobehavioral Risk Factors Propagating ...National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS)
- Studies of the Natural History of Rheumatic DiseasesNational Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS)
- Understanding and Enhancing Health-Related Social Needs (HRSN) Screening Among Community Oncology PracticesWake Forest University Health Sciences
- NAVIGATE Kidney: A Multi-level Intervention to Reduce Kidney Health DisparitiesUniversity of Colorado, Denver
- Improving Pediatrician Counseling About Infant Safe Sleep Using the Electronic Medical RecordJohns Hopkins University
- Breaking Disparities in Access to Advanced Diabetes Technologies in Children With Type 1 DiabetesNemours Children's Clinic
Research already completed
- COVID-19 Vaccine Education at the Point of Testing to Increase Vaccine Uptake in Vulnerable Communities in SE LouisianaXavier University of Louisiana.
- Healthcare Provider Human Papillomavirus Education and Professional Skills InterventionUniversity of Texas, El Paso
- Culturally Tailored HPV Psychoeducational Multimedia InterventionUniversity of Texas, El Paso
- Growing Together: Women in Opioid Treatment and Their InfantsBoston University Charles River Campus
- Reducing Health Disparity of Physical Functioning Among Young Adult Cancer Patients of ColorUniversity of Alabama at Birmingham
- Reducing Disparities in Medication Adherence in SLEDuke University
Study data from ClinicalTrials.gov, a service of the U.S. National Library of Medicine. Retrieved 2026-07-30. Registry entries are supplied by study sponsors and investigators; ClinicalTrials.gov does not verify their scientific validity. PocketsInfo is not affiliated with, and not endorsed by, the NLM or the NIH.
Where to read more
Rather than paraphrase, we point you to the primary sources. Every link below is to a government health agency, a national institute or a recognised medical body — grouped by what you are trying to find out.
Start Here
- What Are Health Disparities?National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities
Statistics and Research
- Cancer Data and StatisticsCenters for Disease Control and Prevention
- Cancer Statistics by DemographicsNational Cancer Institute
- Indian Health DisparitiesIndian Health Service
- National Healthcare Quality and Disparities ReportsAgency for Healthcare Research and Quality
- Tuberculosis and Black or African American PersonsCenters for Disease Control and Prevention
Clinical Trials
- ClinicalTrials.gov: Healthcare DisparitiesNational Institutes of Health
- ClinicalTrials.gov: Racial and Ethnic DisparitiesNational Institutes of Health
Medical subject headings
Clinicians and researchers index this subject under Healthcare Disparities, Health Status Disparities. These are the terms to use when searching medical literature.
This page is built from the MedlinePlus health topic record for Health Disparities, a service of the U.S. National Library of Medicine (NLM), National Institutes of Health. Information is from MedlinePlus.gov. PocketsInfo is not affiliated with, and is not endorsed by, the NLM or the NIH. Retrieved 30 July 2026.