Evidence map›Paper›PMID 35916384›Full record

ArticleAmerican journal of epidemiology2022

Recommendations for Using Causal Diagrams to Study Racial Health Disparities.

Chanelle J Howe, Zinzi D Bailey, Julia R Raifman, John W Jackson

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in American journal of epidemiology, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 96 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
96citing papers in PubMed, 2 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from 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.

2 · The registry

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.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

96 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Pooled it
  3. Article
  4. Article
  5. Diversity, equity, and inclusion considerations for anti-racist, equity-focused NICU family mental health.Journal of perinatology : official journal of the California Perinatal Association · 2026
    Review
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  7. Review
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  9. Article
  10. Neighborhood Opportunity and Genetic Literacy in a Representative Sample of US Adults.Prevention science : the official journal of the Society for Prevention Research · 2026
    Article
  11. Causal Inference in Health Disparities Research.Annual review of public health · 2026
    Review
  12. Racism and racial health inequity: four theories for public health.Journal of public health (Oxford, England) · 2026
    Article
  13. Article
  14. Article
  15. Article
  16. Article
  17. Racialized economic segregation in relation to fecundability in a preconception cohort study.Journal of urban health : bulletin of the New York Academy of Medicine · 2026
    Article
  18. Article
  19. Article
  20. Article

36 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

4 authors.

Chanelle J Howe
Zinzi D Bailey
Julia R Raifman
John W Jackson

Funding

Systems Science for Translational Health Disparities ResearchK01HL145320 · NHLBI · JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY · PI JACKSON, JOHN WILLIAM · 2019 to 2023
$832k
A Structural Approach to Improving HIV Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) Implementation among High Risk MenK01MH116817 · NIMH · BOSTON UNIVERSITY MEDICAL CAMPUS · PI RAIFMAN, JULIA · 2018 to 2021
$639k
NHLBI NIH HHS K01 HL145320NIMH NIH HHS K01 MH116817
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

There have been calls for race to be denounced as a biological variable and for a greater focus on racism, instead of solely race, when studying racial health disparities in the United States. These calls are grounded in extensive scholarship and the rationale that race is not a biological variable, but instead socially constructed, and that structural/institutional racism is a root cause of race-related health disparities. However, there remains a lack of clear guidance for how best to incorporate these assertions about race and racism into tools, such as causal diagrams, that are commonly used by epidemiologists to study population health. We provide clear recommendations for using causal diagrams to study racial health disparities that were informed by these calls. These recommendations consider a health disparity to be a difference in a health outcome that is related to social, environmental, or economic disadvantage. We present simplified causal diagrams to illustrate how to implement our recommendations. These diagrams can be modified based on the health outcome and hypotheses, or for other group-based differences in health also rooted in disadvantage (e.g., gender). Implementing our recommendations may lead to the publication of more rigorous and informative studies of racial health disparities.

Indexed as

Population HealthRacismCausalityHealthcare DisparitiesHealth Status DisparitiesHumansUnited Statesepidemiologic methodshealth status disparitiesrace relationsracism

Identifiers

PMID35916384
PMCPMC10144617

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

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.