Abstract

Health disparities between different racial/ethnic groups in the United States are substantial. When reviewed across an extensive body of literature, these disparities have been demonstrated to persist even when socioeconomic status, geographic region, health conditions, treatment methods, and patient access-related variables are controlled. This ultimately leads to higher mortality rates among minority patients, making disparities in health a highly prevalent issue. However, the literature suggests that while racial and ethnic disparities in health have been widely examined, research documenting the evolution of these changes over time is lacking. This motivates the research questions: (1) How has the impact of racial biases on disparities in health outcomes evolved over the past decade?; (2) To what extent do race and ethnicity impact variation in health outcomes?; and (3) To what extent are race and ethnicity correlated with the socioeconomic gradient in health?; Last, (4) How present were these disparities when looking at outcomes related to the COVID-19 Pandemic? This thesis aims to address these questions through a two-part empirical analysis using publicly available data from the National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) and the COVID-19 Case Surveillance Public Use Dataset from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Thesis Completion

2022

Semester

Spring

Thesis Chair/Advisor

Guldi, Melanie

Degree

Bachelor of Science (B.S.)

College

College of Business Administration

Department

Economics

Degree Program

Economics

Language

English

Access Status

Open Access

Release Date

5-1-2022

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