The library One Search Research Starter provides the following description for "health disparities":
"The term "health disparities" is used in two related but distinct senses. One is to describe differences in health outcomes or health status among different population groups—for instance, American Indians and Alaska Natives are twice as likely as white Americans to have hepatitis C, and the asthma rate for Puerto Rican Americans is almost twice as high as for other Hispanic Americans. Health disparities can also refer to differences in access and utilization of healthcare services and quality of services provided among population groups. For instance, African Americans and Hispanic Americans are less likely than white Americans to have a reliable source of healthcare, and poor children are less likely than higher-income children to see a dentist annually. The two types of disparity are clearly related—lack of access can easily lead to poor outcomes—but the distinction between disparities is important when when devising programs to address them."