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Review
. 2024 Apr 1;24(2):94-101.
doi: 10.1097/ACI.0000000000000972. Epub 2024 Jan 30.

Health disparities in allergic diseases

Samantha R Jacobs  1   2   3   4 , Nicole Ramsey  1   3 , Mariangela Bagnato  5 , Tracy Pitt  6 , Carla M Davis  7   8   9
Affiliations
Review

Health disparities in allergic diseases

Samantha R Jacobs et al. Curr Opin Allergy Clin Immunol. .

Abstract

Purpose of review: Healthcare disparities impact prevalence, diagnosis, and management of allergic disease. The purpose of this review is to highlight the most recent evidence of healthcare disparities in allergic conditions to provide healthcare providers with better understanding of the factors contributing to disparities and to provide potential management approaches to address them. This review comes at a time in medicine where it is well documented that disparities exist, but we seek to answer the Why , How and What to do next?

Recent findings: The literature highlights the socioeconomic factors at play including race/ ethnicity, neighborhood, insurance status and income. Management strategies have been implemented with the hopes of mitigating the disparate health outcomes including utilization of school-based health, distribution of educational tools and more inclusive research recruitment.

Summary: The studies included describe the associations between upstream structural and social factors with downstream outcomes and provide ideas that can be recreated at other institutions of how to address them. Focus on research and strategies to mitigate healthcare disparities and improve diverse research participant pools are necessary to improve patient outcomes in the future.

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Conflict of interest statement

There are no conflicts of interest.

Figures

Box 1
Box 1
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FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
An infrastructure for reducing health inequities in Allergic conditions.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Hagedorn R, Sumsion J, Alt JA, Gill AS. Disparities in access to healthcare: a survey-based, pilot investigation of sinonasal complaints in the community care setting. Int Forum Allergy Rhinol 2023; 13:76–79. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Puvvula J, Poole JA, Gwon Y, et al. . Role of social determinants of health in differential respiratory exposure and health outcomes among children. BMC Public Health 2023; 23:119. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Stern J, Chen M, Fagnano M, Halterman JS. Allergic rhinitis co-morbidity on asthma outcomes in city school children. J Asthma 2023; 60:255–261. - PMC - PubMed

    2. A study of three school based asthma programs found that 63% of the patients also had allergic rhinitis. The patient with both asthma and allergic Rhinitis had higher rates of daytime symptoms, rescue medication use and limited activity due to their asthma.

    1. Modi S, Norris MR, Nguyen V, et al. . Racial and ethnic disparities in allergen immunotherapy prescription for allergic rhinitis. J Allergy Clin Immunol Pract 2023; 11:1528–1535. e2. - PMC - PubMed

    2. A retrospective matched cohort study of more than 1 000 000 patients with allergic rhinits found that compared to non-Hispanic White patient, less Black and Hispanic patients were started on subcutanous immunotherapy.

    1. Joo J, Mak ACY, Xiao S, et al. . Genome-wide association study in minority children with asthma implicates DNAH5 in bronchodilator responsiveness. Sci Rep 2022; 12:12514. - PMC - PubMed

Publication types