Race and Health

Latest KFF Health News Stories

Diabetic Amputations A ‘Shameful Metric’ Of Inadequate Care

KFF Health News Original

In California, people who are black or Latino are more than twice as likely as whites to undergo amputations related to diabetes, a Kaiser Health News analysis found. The pattern is not unique to California.

Californians Living Longer With Cancer — Some Longer Than Others

KFF Health News Original

A new study from the University of California-Davis shows a significant increase in five-year survival rates for more than 20 types of cancer, but with significant disparities by race, ethnicity and economic status. That is in line with the national trend.

Black Men’s Blood Pressure Is Cut Along With Their Hair

KFF Health News Original

A new study shows that educational sessions about high blood pressure at African American barbershops, coupled with prescribing and helping to manage medication, reduced hypertension rates significantly.

Latinos Left Out Of Clinical Trials … And Possible Cures

KFF Health News Original

Fewer than 8 percent of enrollees in medical studies are Hispanic. Those who don’t participate have less access to cutting-edge treatments, and researchers have less data on how a drug works within the Hispanic population.

Attending To The ‘Human Element’ Is Key To Keeping Patients Healthy

KFF Health News Original

Research to be published in full this fall details how medicine’s “implicit bias” — whether real or perceived — undermines the doctor-patient relationship and the well-being of racial and ethnic minorities as well as lower-income patients.

Genetic Insights About Health Risks Limited By Lack Of Diversity, Study Finds

KFF Health News Original

A study in the New England Journal of Medicine detailed how the diagnoses of risk for a common hereditary heart disease may have been skewed because studies have traditionally had low numbers of black participants.