Use of Standardized Nursing Terminologies to Capture Social Determinants of Health Data

Abstract

Addressing social determinants of health in nursing care is important for improving health outcomes and reducing health inequities. Using standardized nursing terminologies to capture this information generates sharable data that can be used to achieve these goals and create new knowledge. The purpose of this integrative review was to examine use of standardized nursing terminologies for collecting social determinants of health data in nursing research and practice. The CINAHL, MEDLINE, and Web of Science databases were searched using the terms “social determinants of health” [and] “nursing” [and] “standardized terminology” or names for each of the 12 American Nurses Association–approved terminologies. Limiters included peer-reviewed and English language. After removal of duplicates, 120 articles were found and screened for relevance and quality using a three-step process. This yielded a final sample of seven articles. Article data were extracted and analyzed for themes. In all articles, retrospective, observational, or secondary analysis research designs were used to analyze previously collected data from large, deidentified datasets or research studies. The Omaha System was the only standardized nursing terminology represented in the sample. All operational definitions of social determinants of health included behavioral items. In most studies, a social determinants of health index score was calculated, and data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and visualization methods. Results reported across the articles were diverse; some themes were identified. This review revealed published literature on this topic is limited. More quality improvement and multisite studies that examine the use of standardized nursing terminologies by nurses to collect and use social determinants of health data are needed.