SynthesisSocial science & medicine (1982)2021
Intersectionality in quantitative health disparities research: A systematic review of challenges and limitations in empirical studies.
Synthesis in Social science & medicine (1982), 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 96 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
96 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Intersectionality in Weight Stigma Research: A Systematic Review of Empirical Evidence.Current obesity reports · 2026Pooled it
- Sociodemographic intersections and risk of multiple long-term conditions: A systematic review.PloS one · 2025Pooled it
- Real-time remote outpatient consultations in secondary and tertiary care: A systematic review of inequalities in invitation and uptake.PloS one · 2022Pooled it
- Who Is Getting the Help They Need? An AI-Driven Study of Intersectional Disparities in Mental Health Service Utilization Among Young Adults with Suicidal Ideation.Prevention science : the official journal of the Society for Prevention Research · 2026Article
- Postpartum Health Disparities During the Birth Hospitalization in the United States: A Scoping Review.Journal of racial and ethnic health disparities · 2026Article
- Stereotype threat effects on deaf and hard-of-hearing college students' mathematics performance.Journal of deaf studies and deaf education · 2026Article
- Article
- Persistent inequalities in adolescent motherhood in Peru (1981-2017): From wide approaches to intercategorical mapping.SSM - population health · 2026Article
- Associations between adolescent adversity and young adult depression symptoms and allostatic load in Mexican-origin individuals.Psychoneuroendocrinology · 2026Article
- Additive and Multiplicative Effects of Socially Stigmatized Identities Using Linear Regression to Model Effects on Self-Reported Overall Health as Reported in the All of Us Research Program: Quantitative Analysis.JMIR formative research · 2026Article
- Sex Differences in Cigarette Smoking Among Hispanic and Non-Hispanic Black All of Us Participants: The Relative Importance of Sociodemographic Characteristics and Social Determinants of Health.Journal of racial and ethnic health disparities · 2026Article
- The assessment of second year chiropractic students' comfort and confidence modifying care for vulnerable patient groups: A cross-sectional survey.The Journal of chiropractic education · 2026Article
- Qualitative methods are epidemiologic methods: Revisiting the epidemiologist's toolbox.American journal of epidemiology · 2026Article
- Superwoman schema, motherhood status, and subclinical atherosclerosis among African American women.Psychoneuroendocrinology · 2026Article
- Knowledge, affirmativeness, and experience as factors associated with self-efficacy in LGBTQ+-affirmative services for individuals with IDD.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2026Article
- Discrimination and Health: Results of the Panel 'Health in Germany' 2024.Journal of health monitoring · 2026Article
- Affirming care at the margins: Community health clinics and health equity for transgender people of color.International journal of transgender health · 2026Article
- On the importance of intersectionality: understanding how experienced, anticipated and internalized stigma intersect in people with non-normative identities.Frontiers in sociology · 2026Article
- A qualitative study of multilevel resilience mechanisms to counter intersectional stigma among black men who have sex with men in a Southern United States city.Discover public health · 2026Article
- 'Aint We Women?' A Narrative Review of Intensive and Acute Care Experiences of Black Women Through an Intersectional Lens.Nursing in critical care · 2026Review
36 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
2 authors.
Funding
Abstract
rationaleQuantitative health disparities research has increasingly employed intersectionality as a theoretical tool to investigate how social characteristics intersect to generate health inequality. Yet, intersectionality was not designed to quantify, predict, or identify health disparities, and, as a result, multiple criticisms against its misapplication in health disparities research have been made. As such, there is an emerging need to evaluate the growing body of quantitative research that aims to investigate health disparities through an intersectional lens.
methodsWe conducted a systematic review from earliest records to January 2020 to (i) describe the scope of limitations when applying intersectionality to quantitative health disparities research, and (ii) identify recommendations to improve the future integration of intersectionality with this scholarship. We identified relevant publications with electronic searches in PubMed and CA Web of Science. Studies eligible for inclusion were English-language publications that used quantitative methodologies to investigate health disparities among adults in the U.S. while explicitly claiming to adopt an intersectional perspective. Out of 1279 articles reviewed, 65 were eligible for inclusion.
resultsOur review found that, while the value of intersectionality to the study of health disparities is evident, the existing research struggles with meeting intersectionality's fundamental assumptions. In particular, four limitations were found to be widespread: narrowing the measurements of intersectionality, intersectional groups, and health outcomes; placing primacy on the study of certain intersectional groups to the neglect of others; overlooking underlying explanatory mechanisms that contribute to the health disparities experienced by intersectional groups; and, lacking in the use of life-course perspectives to show how health disparities vary across different life stages.
conclusionIf the goal of health equality is to be achieved among diverse intersectional groups, future research must be assisted by the collection and examination of data that overcomes these limitations.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.