Purpose of reviewThis review will explore the underlying causes of healthcare disparities among trauma patients and offer considerations for reducing inequities to improve trauma care.Recent findingsNewly recognized racial disparities exist with respect to triaging trauma patients and in acute pain management. Social Determinants of Health offers a model to understand disparity in trauma care.SummaryRace, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, and access to healthcare drive outcome disparity among trauma patients. These disparities include reduced healthcare services, inadequate pain management, reduced postdischarge care, and increased mortality. Increasing workforce diversity may mitigate implicit bias and improve cultural competency. Social determinants of health impact the disparities in trauma care and offer a framework to address care through creative solutions.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.