Key result
Social determinants and unconscious bias linked to perioperative racial disparities beyond underlying comorbidities.
Why the study?
The role of social determinants of health in perioperative disparities is often underestimated, and research on unconscious bias in medicine remains limited.
Comparison
Differences in health outcomes across race and ethnicity in preoperative, intraoperative, and postoperative contexts
Design
Review article
May warrant incorporating social determinants into perioperative risk models; extends prior reviews but leaves open effective mitigation strategies.
Health disparities persist across race and ethnicity within our health care system. The environments in which we live and work, and the opportunities and resources available to us contribute to social determinants often inextricable from race and ethnicity that influence and affect our health. While racial and ethnic disparities in perioperative health outcomes have traditionally been attributed to underlying comorbidities, the scope and lens with which social determinants of health play a role are often underestimated. Furthermore, there is limited research on unconscious bias within medicine despite multiple studies that demonstrate minoritized populations inequitably receive lower quality of care. This review article evaluates differences in health outcomes across race and ethnicity as experienced in the preoperative, intraoperative, and postoperative contexts.
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Ehie et al. (2026) studied this question. Racial and ethnic disparities in perioperative outcomes are influenced by social determinants and unconscious bias, beyond just underlying comorbidities.
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