Abstract
Disparities in cardiovascular disease risk and outcomes by race/ethnicity, age, sex, and social position are long-standing and well documented, particularly in the public health sector. It is only relatively recently that the discipline of behavioral medicine has turned attention to this critical issue. This chapter reviews the extant epidemiologic evidence on disparities in cardiovascular health and healthcare, including initiatives and recommendations that have been implemented to address disparities, briefly outlines a conceptual framework for health disparities research, and then discusses important factors-from traditional cardiovascular risk factors to psychosocial factors and geographic patterning of cardiovascular risk-that contribute to cardiovascular health disparities. We argue that behavioral medicine, with its biopsychosocial perspective, is ideally positioned to advance our understanding of health disparities but, in particular, offers unique opportunities to develop methods and means of ameliorating health disparities. The chapter closes with recommendations for behavioral medicine investigators to reduce and ultimately eliminate disparities in cardiovascular health.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Title of host publication | Handbook of Cardiovascular Behavioral Medicine |
| Publisher | Springer New York |
| Pages | 265-286 |
| Number of pages | 22 |
| ISBN (Electronic) | 9780387859606 |
| ISBN (Print) | 9780387859590 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Jan 1 2022 |
Bibliographical note
Publisher Copyright:© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2022.
Keywords
- Cardiovascular diseases
- Epidemiology
- Health disparities
- Race/ethnicity
- Risk factors
