The DOI matches its Crossref record; 118 of the 120 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
Race and health: Basic questions, emerging directions
Abstract
Purpose This paper examines the scientific consensus on the conceptualization of race, identifies why health researchers should analyze racial differences in morbidity and mortality and provides guidelines for future health research that includes race. Methods Examines scientific dictionaries and reviews the social science, public health and medical literature on the role of race in health. Results First, this paper reviews the evidence suggesting that race is more of a social category than a biological one. Variation in genotypic characteristics exists, but race does not capture it. Second, since racial categories have historically represented and continue to reflect the creation of social, economic, and political disadvantage that is consequential for well-being, it is important to continue to study racial differences in health. Finally, the paper outlines directions for a more deliberate and thoughtful examination of the role of race in health. Conclusions Race is typically used in a mechanical and uncritical manner as a proxy for unmeasured biological, socioeconomic, and/or sociocultural factors. Future research should explore how clearly delineated environmental demands combine with genetic susceptibilities as well as with specified behavioral and physiological responses to increase the risk of illness for groups differentially exposed to psychosocial adversity.
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“By creating unequal access to resources and opportunity, racism is a fundamental cause of racial inequities in health [10,11].”
From Reducing Racial Inequities in Health: Using What We Already Know to Take Action (2019) · cites this paper as [11]
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Metadata
- Authors
- Williams, D. R.
- Affiliations
- University of Michigan (US)
- Corresponding author
- Williams, David R.
- ORCID
- Williams, David R.
- Venue
- Annals of Epidemiology
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 1997-07
- Volume
- 7
- Issue
- 5
- Pages
- 322-333
- ISSN
- 1047-2797 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W1977518943
- Cited by
- 825
- References
- 120
- Citations by year
- 2026: 11 · 2025: 23 · 2024: 25 · 2023: 35 · 2022: 31 · 2021: 31 · 2020: 26 · 2019: 23 · 2018: 20 · 2017: 61 · 2016: 26 · 2015: 24 · 2014: 21 · 2013: 27 · 2012: 25
- FWCI
- 2.87
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Annals of Epidemiology (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Anthropology › Race, Genetics, and Society
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Racial and Ethnic Identity Research
- Social Sciences › Health › Health disparities and outcomes
- Keywords
- race, racial differences in health, social construction of race, genetic variation, socioeconomic deprivation, psychosocial adversity
- MeSH terms
- Culture, Female, Health Status, Humans, Male, Population Surveillance, Prejudice, Research Design, Risk Factors, Social Class, Socioeconomic Factors, United States, Racial Groups
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