Assessment Disparities among Pediatric Patients: Advantages of Pictorial Descriptions

Frontiers in Pediatrics

Marie Leiner¹ 

关键词: assessment disparities;    pediatric patients;    pictorial descriptions;    health literacy;    health disparities;   

DOI  :  10.3389/fped.2013.00028

学科分类：儿科学

来源: Frontiers

【 摘 要 】

Remarkable progress in medicine has provided people with the potential for longer and healthier lives. However, health disparities (e.g., poverty, access to health care, educational inequalities, higher exposure to health risks, etc.), make individuals, families, and communities miss most of the benefits of this progress (1, 2). Pediatric populations are affected by these disparities during crucial years of development. The result is poor health or disease, which develops over short and/or long term periods (3–5). The adverse contributions of these disparities have a different effect on each individual. However, they have a powerful effect on pediatric outcomes. One of the most recognized factors associated with health disparities is the problem of poor communication with parents/caretakers. Poor communication prevents them from receiving health benefits, participating in research studies, and actively contributing to disease prevention and health care for their children (6–9). Decades of effort and research on strategies to reduce health disparities have led to inconclusive and conflicting results, and there has been little improvement in leading health indicators (10). Some interventions could have a true beneficial effect on the participants. However, it is possible that the findings have been affected by misclassification of outcomes, exposures, or health conditions due to assessment disparities (11–13).

【 授权许可】

CC BY