Health disparities among vulnerable populations: evolution of knowledge over five decades in Nursing Research publications.
BACKGROUND
Considerable attention has been focused recently on conducting research on the health disparities experienced by some Americans as the result of poverty, ethnicity, and/or marginalized social status. Nursing research has a major role to play in developing this body of knowledge.


OBJECTIVE
The purpose of this paper is to review the contributions that Nursing Research made through its publications over the last five decades in developing the body of tested knowledge about health disparities in vulnerable groups and to analyze the progress made.


METHODS
Criteria for reviewing the literature were established. All Nursing Research publications between 1952 and 2000 were searched manually, indexes of each year's bound volumes were reviewed, and computer searches were conducted. Included in the review were research reports, research briefs, and methodology articles.


RESULTS
Seventy-nine papers were found that met basic criteria for inclusion. The number of relevant publications increased each decade, with a sizable increase in numbers since 1990, and may be related to the social, political, and economic climate of each decade. The research questions asked and the methods used became more complex over time.


CONCLUSIONS
Nursing Research has made a significant contribution in disseminating the body of tested knowledge related to the health disparities experienced by vulnerable populations and the methodologies associated with vulnerable populations research. Areas for future research are community-based studies, intervention studies that provide tangible resources, and methodologic approaches that involve participants in the research process.
Flaskerud
Jacquelyn H
JH
UCLA School of Nursing, Los Angele, CA 90095-1702, USA. jflaskerud@sonnet.ucla.edu
Lesser
Janna
J
Dixon
Elizabeth
E
Anderson
Nancy
N
Conde
Francisco
F
Kim
Sue
S
Koniak-Griffin
Deborah
D
Strehlow
Aaron
A
Tullmann
Dorothy
D
Verzemnieks
Inese
I
D001294:Attitude to Health / Q000208:ethnology; D005544:Forecasting; D006297:Health Services Accessibility / Q000458:organization & administration; D006305:Health Status Indicators; D006801:Humans; D008913:Minority Groups / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D015399:Nursing Research / Q000639:trends*; D011057:Politics; D011203:Poverty / Q000208:ethnology / Q000523:psychology / Q000639:trends; D012306:Risk; D012307:Risk Factors; D012922:Social Change; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors