title: Healthcare disparities in critical illness.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To summarize the current literature on racial and gender disparities in critical care and the mechanisms underlying these disparities in the course of acute critical illness.
  
  
  METHODS
  MEDLINE search on the published literature addressing racial, ethnic, or gender disparities in acute critical illness, such as sepsis, acute lung injury, pneumonia, venous thromboembolism, and cardiac arrest.
  
  
  METHODS
  Clinical studies that evaluated general critically ill patient populations in the United States as well as specific critical care conditions were reviewed with a focus on studies evaluating factors and contributors to health disparities.
  
  
  METHODS
  Study findings are presented according to their association with the prevalence, clinical presentation, management, and outcomes in acute critical illness.
  
  
  RESULTS
  This review presents potential contributors for racial and gender disparities related to genetic susceptibility, comorbidities, preventive health services, socioeconomic factors, cultural differences, and access to care. The data are organized along the course of acute critical illness.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The literature to date shows that disparities in critical care are most likely multifactorial involving individual, community, and hospital-level factors at several points in the continuum of acute critical illness. The data presented identify potential targets as interventions to reduce disparities in critical care and future avenues for research.
authors.affiliation: 1Division of Critical Care Medicine, Department of Medicine, Jay B. Langner Critical Care Service, Montefiore Medical Center, Bronx, NY. 2Division of Pulmonary, Allergy, and Critical Care Medicine, Department of Medicine, Emory University, Grady Memorial Hospital, Atlanta, GA. 3Department of Epidemiology and Population Health, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY.
authors.forename: Graciela J
authors.initials: GJ
authors.lastname: Soto
authors.forename: Greg S
authors.initials: GS
authors.lastname: Martin
authors.forename: Michelle Ng
authors.initials: MN
authors.lastname: Gong
mesh_terms: D002908:Chronic Disease; D015897:Comorbidity; D003422:Critical Care; D016638:Critical Illness / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000401:mortality / Q000628:therapy; D020022:Genetic Predisposition to Disease / Q000453:epidemiology; D015438:Health Behavior; D006297:Health Services Accessibility; D054624:Health Status Disparities; D054625:Healthcare Disparities / Q000208:ethnology; D006801:Humans; D015995:Prevalence; D012737:Sex Factors; D012923:Social Class