Social determinants of health analysis makes causal inference and requires analytic epidemiology methods

Abstract

The growing emphasis on reducing health disparities and addressing social determinants of health (SDH) has prompted many national and local health agencies to report population health data by SDH measures. However, many agencies rely on descriptive epidemiology methods for such reports and are susceptible to biased findings due to inadequate confounding control. In this brief analytic essay, using the data presented in an HIV Surveillance Report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), we demonstrated an example of how reporting health outcomes by SDH with descriptive methods could bias the results and conclusions. SDH are causes of health disparities and SDH analysis requires analytic epidemiology methods to ensure valid research results and effective interventions.