Causal Mediation of Neighborhood-Level Pediatric Hospitalization Inequities

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38426267/ Community-Level Factors Linked to Pediatric Outcome Inequities Structural racism seems to be a significant root cause of inequities in child health outcomes, including those at the population level, according to a new AHRQ-funded study in Pediatrics. Researchers found that pediatric hospitalizations increased by more than 6 percent for every 10 percent of the population in a census tract that identified with a “historically marginalized” racial group. This review combined data from nearly 60,000 hospitalizations with community-level factors related to community material deprivation, crime risk, primary language, housing tenure, family composition, hospital access, greenspace, traffic-related air pollution and housing conditions. When they weighted their measurements to account for these systemic inequities, they found that inequities in pediatric hospitalizations disappeared. Researchers concluded that interventions and policies that address such exposures and dismantle racist structures could promote better, more equitable child health outcomes.