Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

The Top 100 Cited Papers in Health Care Disparities: a Bibliometric Analysis

  • Published:
Journal of Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Health care disparities research is an exponentially growing and multi-faceted field. Our objective was to identify and analyze the top 100 cited articles in health care disparities. The authors searched the Thomas Reuters Web of Science for citations of all research papers (articles) relevant to health care disparities. After analyzing search results, the number of citations, authorship, year, journal, country of publication, institution of publication, and relevant topic were recorded for each article. The most cited article was Martin’s 2002 work identifying the demography of incidence and occurrence of sepsis with specific analysis of race, sex, and disposition of US patients. The second most cited article was Kamangar’s 2006 paper outlining geographic patterns in cancer incidence, mortality, and prevalence. The third most cited article was Williams’ 1996 study determining the differences in US health patterns in populations of different races and socioeconomic statuses through a review of similar studies. The majority of articles originated in the USA (91). The journal with the most published articles was JAMA—The Journal of the American Medical Association (14). The second most cited journal was The New England Journal of Medicine (7). Most articles were published in the 2000s (84). In descending order, the 3 most common topics were (1) disparities in cancer incidence, screening, treatment, and mortality, (2) disparities in mental health treatment, and (3) physician concordance, cultural competency, and relationships with minority patients. Overall, the highly cited articles contain current advancements in the body of knowledge used to resolve health care disparities in race, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, gender, age, wealth, education level, mental health, and geography throughout the world.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Beach MC, Price EG, Gary TL, et al. Cultural competence—a systematic review of health care provider educational interventions. Med Care. 2005;43:356–73.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  2. Gornick ME, Eggers PW, Reilly TW, et al. Effects of race and income on mortality and use of services among Medicare beneficiaries. N Engl J Med. 1996;335:791–9.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  3. Nelson AR, Smedley BD, Stith AY, editors. Unequal treatment: confronting racial and ethnic disparities in health care (full printed version). National Academies Press: Washington D.C.; 2002.

    Google Scholar 

  4. Weisner C, Schmidt L. Gender disparities in treatment for alcohol-problems. JAMA – J Am Med Assoc. 1992;268(14):1872–6.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Ward E, Jemal A, Cokkinides V, et al. Cancer disparities by race/ethnicity and socioeconomic status. CA-A Cancer J Clin. 2004;54(2):78–93.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Kataoka SH, Zhang L, Wells KB. Unmet need for mental health care among US children: variation by ethnicity and insurance status. Am J Psychiatr. 2002;159(9):1548–55.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  7. Skinner J, Weinstein JN, Sporer SM, et al. Racial, ethnic, and geographic disparities in rates of knee arthroplasty among Medicare patients. N Engl J Med. 2003;349(14):1350–9.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  8. Moed HF. New developments in the use of citation analysis in research evaluation. Arch Immunol Ther Exp. 2009;57:13–8.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Tao T, Zhao X, Lou J, et al. The top cited clinical research articles on sepsis: a bibliometric analysis. Crit Care. 2012;16:R110.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  10. Fenton JE, Roy D, Hughes JP, et al. A century of citation classics in otolaryngology-head and neck surgery journals. J Laryngol Otol. 2002;116:494–8.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  11. Baltussen A, Kindler CH. Citation classics in critical care medicine. Intensive Care Med. 2004;30:902–10.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  12. Dubin D, Häfner AW, Arndt KA. Citation classics in clinical dermatologic journals: citation analysis, biomedical journals, and landmark articles, 1945-1990. Arch Dermatol. 1993;129:1121–9.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  13. Loonen MP, Hage JJ, Kon M. Plastic surgery classics: characteristics of 50 top-cited articles in four plastic surgery journals since 1946. Plast Reconstr Surg. 2008;121:320–7.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  14. Paladugu R, Schein M, Gardezi S, et al. One hundred citation classics in general surgical journals. World J Surg. 2002;26:1099–105.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  15. Skovrlj B, Maaieh MA, Guzman J, et al. The 100 classic papers in spinal deformity surgery. Spinal Deformity. 2014;2:241–7.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  16. Journal Citation Reports | Thomson Reuters [Internet]. Thomsonreuters.com. 2016 [cited 22 March 2016]. Available from: http://thomsonreuters.com/en/products-services/scholarly-scientific-research/research-management-and-evaluation/journal-citation-reports.html

  17. Martin GS, Mannino DM, Eaton S, et al. The epidemiology of sepsis in the United States from 1979 through 2000. N Engl J Med. 2003;348:1546–54.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  18. Gebo KA, Fleishman JA, Conviser R, et al. Racial and gender disparities in receipt of highly active antiretroviral therapy persist in a multistate sample of HIV patients in 2001. JAIDS – J Acquir Immune Defic Syndr. 2005;38(1):96–103.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  19. Berkman ND, Sheridan SL, Donahue KE, et al. Low health literacy and health outcomes: an updated systematic review. Ann Intern Med. 2011;155(2):97–U98.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  20. Coleman MP, Forman D, Bryant H, et al. Cancer survival in Australia, Canada, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, and the UK, 1995-2007 (the International Cancer Benchmarking Partnership): an analysis of population-based cancer registry data. Lancet. 2011;377(9760):127–38.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  21. De Hert M, Correll CU, Bobes J, et al. Physical illness in patients with severe mental disorders. I. Prevalence, impact of medications and disparities in health care. World Psychiatry. 2011;10(1):52–77.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  22. Mayberry RM, Mili F, Ofili E. Racial and ethnic differences in access to medical care. Med Care Res Rev. 2000;57:108–45.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  23. Kamangar F, Dores GM, Anderson WF. Patterns of cancer incidence, mortality, and prevalence across five continents: defining priorities to reduce cancer disparities in different geographic regions of the world. J Clin Oncol. 2006;24(14):2137–50.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  24. Williams DR, Collins C. US socioeconomic and racial differences in health: patterns and explanations. Annu Rev Sociol. 1995;21:349–86.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  25. Bauer KR, Brown M, Cress RD, et al. Descriptive analysis of estrogen receptor (ER)negative, progesterone receptor (PR)-negative, and HER2-negative invasive breast cancer, the so-called triple-negative phenotype—a population-based study from the California Cancer Registry. Cancer. 2007;109(9):1721–8.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  26. Ashing-Giwa KT, Padilla G, Tejero J, et al. Understanding the breast cancer experience of women: a qualitative study of African American, Asian American, Latina and Caucasian cancer survivors. Psycho-Oncology. 2004;13(6):408–28.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  27. Shavers VL, Harlan LC, Stevens JL. Racial/ethnic variation in clinical presentation, treatment, and survival among breast cancer patients under age 35. Cancer. 2003;97(1):134–47.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  28. Breast Cancer Facts and Figures 2015-2016 [Internet]. 2016 [cited 22 March 2016]. Available from: http://www.cancer.org/acs/groups/content/@research/documents/document/acspc-046381.pdf.

  29. Goel MS, Wee CC, McCarthy EP, et al. Racial and ethnic disparities in cancer screening—the importance of foreign birth as a barrier to care. J Gen Intern Med. 2003;18(12):1028–35.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  30. Katz SJ, Hofer TP. Socioeconomic disparities in preventive care persist despite universal coverage—breast and cervical-cancer screening in Ontario and the United-States. JAMA – J Am Med Assoc. 1994;272(7):530–4.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  31. Meissner HI, Breen N, Klabunde CN, et al. Patterns of colorectal cancer screening uptake among men and women in the United States. Cancer Epidemiol Biomark Prev. 2006;15(2):389–94.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  32. Swan J, Breen N, Coates RJ, et al. Progress in cancer screening practices in the United States—results from the 2000 National Health Interview Survey. Cancer. 2003;97(6):1528–40.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  33. Kessler RC, Berglund P, Demler O, et al. Lifetime prevalence and age-of-onset distributions of DSM-IV disorders in the National Comorbidity Survey Replication. Arch Gen Psychiatry. 2005;62(6):593–602.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  34. Cooper LA, Gonzales JJ, Gallo JJ, et al. The acceptability of treatment for depression among African-American, Hispanic, and white primary care patients. Med Care. 2003;41(4):479–89.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  35. Wells K, Klap R, Koike A, et al. Ethnic disparities in unmet need for alcoholism, drug abuse, and mental health care. Am J Psychiatr. 2001;158(12):2027–32.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  36. Kane JA, Leucht S, Carpenter D, et al. Expert consensus guideline series—optimizing pharmacologic treatment of psychotic disorders—introduction: methods, commentary, and summary. J Clin Psychiatry. 2003;64:5–97.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  37. Nasrallah HA, Meyer JM, Goff DC, et al. Low rates of treatment for hypertension, dyslipidemia and diabetes in schizophrenia: data for the CATIE schizophrenia trial sample at baseline. Schizophr Res. 2006;86(1–3):15–22.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  38. Lehman AF, Steinwachs DM. Patterns of usual care for schizophrenia: initial results from the schizophrenia Patient Outcomes Research Team (PORT) client survey. Schizophr Bull. 1998;24(1):11–20.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  39. Safran MA, Mays Jr RA, Huang LN, McCuan R, Pham PK, Fisher SK, McDuffie KY, Trachtenberg A. Mental health disparities. Am J Public Health. 2009;99(11):1962–6.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  40. Office of the Surgeon General (US, Center for Mental Health Services (US mental health: culture, race, and ethnicity: a supplement to mental health: a report of the surgeon general.

  41. Lavizzo-Mourey RJ, MacKenzie E. Cultural competence—an essential hybrid for delivering high quality care in the 1990’s and beyond. Trans Am Clin Climatol Assoc. 1996;107:226.

    CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  42. Betancourt JR, Green AR, Carrillo JE, et al. Defining cultural competence: a practical framework for addressing racial/ethnic disparities in health and health care. Public Health Rep. 2003;118(4):293–302.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  43. Cooper LA, Roter DL, Johnson RL, et al. Patient-centered communication, ratings of care, and concordance of patient and physician race. Ann Intern Med. 2003;139(11):907–15.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  44. Smith D. Health care divided. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; 1999.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  45. Nickens HW, Ready T. A strategy to tame the “savage inequalities”. Acad Med. 1999;74(4):310–1.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  46. Association of American Medical Colleges. Minority graduates of U.S. medical schools: trends, 1950–1998. Washington, DC: Association of American Medical Colleges; 1998.

    Google Scholar 

  47. Derose KP, Gresenz CR, Ringel JS. Understanding disparities in health care access—and reducing them—through a focus on public health. Health Aff. 2011;30(10):1844–51.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  48. Adam D. The counting house. Nature. 2002;415:726–9.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  49. Smith R. Beware the tyranny of impact factors. J Bone Joint Surg (Br). 2008;90-B:125–6.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  50. Walter G, Bloch S, Hunt G, et al. Counting on citations: a flawed way to measure quality. Med J Aust. 2003;178:280–1.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, School of Medicine and Dentistry, University of Rochester, 601 Elmwood Ave, Box 665, Rochester, NY, 14642, USA

    Karan Arul & Addisu Mesfin

Authors
  1. Karan Arul
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Addisu Mesfin
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Addisu Mesfin.

Ethics declarations

Funding

There was no funding provided for this study.

Conflict of Interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Ethical Approval

This article does not contain any studies with human participants or animals performed by any of the authors.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Arul, K., Mesfin, A. The Top 100 Cited Papers in Health Care Disparities: a Bibliometric Analysis. J. Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities 4, 854–865 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40615-016-0288-y

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40615-016-0288-y

Keywords

Search

Navigation