Health care disparities are a well-documented phenomenon. Despite the development and implementation of multiple interventions, disparities in surgery have proven persistent. Thought to arise from a combination of patient, provider, and system-level factors, the objective of this study was to identify what is currently known about factors that influence surgical disparities and elucidate possible interventions to address them across four intervention-based themes: (1) condition-specific targeted interventions; (2) increased reliance on quantitative factors; (3) doctor-patient communication; and (4) cultural humility. ⋯ There are various forms of interventions to address surgical disparities, spanning knowledge from disparate fields. Promising efforts have emerged towards the successful alleviation of disparities. In order to move the field of surgery from understanding of disparities towards actions to mitigate them, continued development of meaningful quality improvement initiatives are needed.
Butool Hisam, Cheryl K Zogg, Muhammad A Chaudhary, Ammar Ahmed, Hammad Khan, Shalini Selvarajah, Maya J Torain, Navin R Changoor, and Adil H Haider.
Dow University of Health Sciences Medical College, Karachi, Pakistan; Department of Surgery, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland.