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Literature Reviews

The FAIR Database contains 206 journal article summaries from a systematic review of racial and ethnic health disparities interventions published as a Special Supplement to the October 2007 issue of Medical Care Research and Review. Systematic literature reviews were conducted for the following health topics and intervention strategies: cardiovascular disease (CVD), depression, diabetes mellitus, breast cancer, cultural leverage and pay-for-performance incentives. Diseases examined in this database were chosen because they have a known high prevalence, cause significant morbidity and mortality, have clear standards of care, and have large documented disparities in care. Diseases outside the scope of the supplement (e.g., HIV/AIDS, asthma) are not included in this database.

The FAIR Database was designed to provide a customized list of interventions that match a user’s interest in the following areas: health topic, racial/ethnic population, organizational setting, and intervention strategy. 

Inclusion Criteria

• Cardiovascular disease
• Articles published from 1995 to 2006 that weredesigned to improve delivery of care addressing hypertension, lipid abnormalities, tobacco use, sedentary behavior, coronary artery disease, and heart failure for adult patients of color. People of color receiving care were either the focus of studies, representing over 50% of study subjects, or subgroups of larger trials, where data for ethnic/racial subgroups were specifically described. We required that interventions be based in North America and have a connection with a health care setting.
• Depression
• Articles published from January 1995 to January 2006, in English, that pertained to humans, were conducted in the United States or Canada, had a full text article, and had an intervention component with minority group participants and described a mechanism for reducing disparities.
• Diabetes mellitus
• Articles published from from 1985 to 2006 which were designed to improve diabetes care for adults of color living with type 2 diabetes mellitus. People of color receiving care were either the focus of studies, representing over 50% of study subjects, or subgroups of larger trials, where data for ethnic/racial subgroups were specifically described. We excluded reports of interventions that were not based in health care settings, involved children, or exclusively addressed diabetes prevention.
• Breast cancer
• Articles published from 1986 through December 2005, in English, that included human data, represented a published report. People of color receiving care were either the focus of studies, representing over 50% of study subjects, or subgroups of larger trials, where data for ethnic/racial subgroups were specifically described. Studies were conducted in the U.S., included an intervention which was health care organization-based, and utilized a randomized or concurrent controlled trial design.
• Cultural interventions
• Articles published after 1985 that describe an intervention arising from a health care organization or connecting community/patients of color to a health care organization, evaluate an intervention, focus on a population of at least fifty percent people of color, and take place within the United States.
• Pay-for-Performance incentives
• Articles published from 1966 through March 2006, in English and conducted in the United States that explicitly link rewards and sanctions to performance on measures of specific health care processes and/or outcomes. We excluded programs that used implicit incentives related to the overall payment structure (e.g. capitation), promoted quality without directly assessing care processes or outcomes (e.g. information technology grants), or only provided educational inducements (e.g. continuing medical education credits).