Principles of Researching Health Disparities in Longitudinal Cohort Studies Enrolling Children

Abstract

Health disparities are defined on the basis of specific populations that, when compared to the general population, have a significant disparity on the rate of disease incidence, prevalence, morbidity, mortality, or survival. People that experience health disparities can be defined by multiple criteria. As the diversity of the United States broadens and increases, research on the origins and causes of health disparities becomes more important to support a healthy general population. Children are particularly sensitive to and vulnerable to health disparities due to the potentially life long consequences of events during periods of critical organ, intellectual and social development. The concept of health justice whereby each individual has the opportunity to realize their full health potential can only be realized with proper understanding and relevant data to frame practice, policy and actions. The National Children's Study (NCS) was a longitudinal birth cohort study designed to incorporate the principles of the Federal Collaboration on Health Disparities Research in consultation with subject matter experts, community representatives, and ongoing evaluation to ensure high quality and relevant data on factors that impact health outcomes. The NCS developed and tested a model of enrolling a diverse population, capturing and integrating data using a life course framework, constructing individual profiles, then aggregating individuals into groups based on profiles and outcomes. This approach is applicable to other longitudinal cohort studies.

Engaging Community Health Centers to understand their perceptions and interest in longitudinal cohort research on diabetes mellitus in Native Hawaiian communities: Initial insights from the Waimānalo community

“…However, in contrast to prior studies, this project was undertaken within a context of a pre-existing longstanding relationship and with the foresight and intent of understanding the communities' genuine concerns and preferences on observational longitudinal cohort research prior to any grant funding. Indeed, much of the existing literature describes challenges and “lessons learned” after funding has already occurred and when enrollment of minority populations may have fallen short ( 21 , 22 ). We were intentional in our approach for this study by approaching all 14 Ulu Network CHCs to consider the concept of a longitudinal cohort study prior to any funding as the means for sharing of information and building trustworthy relationships.…”

Impact of health disparity on pediatric infections

“…There are marked disparities in healthcare access and outcomes by race, sex, geography, and household income in the United States [2,3]. Children are particularly vulnerable to the impacts of health disparities due to the potentially lifelong consequences of adverse events during periods of critical organ, intellectual, and social development [4].…”

Quality of antenatal care and outcomes of Hypertensive Disorders in Pregnancy among antenatal attendees: A comparison of urban and periurban health facilities in Ghana

“…Health disparity refers to a significant difference in the health outcomes such as prevalence, morbidity, mortality, survival, hazard, of a defined population to another population which could be a reference population [1]. Several factors have been identified to account for health disparities [2][3][4].…”