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This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) All Versions of this Article: AJPH.2009.165407v1 100/2/349    most recent Submit a response View Shopping Cart Alert me when this article is cited Alert me when eLetters are posted Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Orsi, J. M. Articles by Whitman, S. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Orsi, J. M. Articles by Whitman, S. Related Collections Epidemiology Socioeconomic Factors Mortality Urban Health Minority Children

Jennifer M. Orsi, MPH, Helen Margellos-Anast, MPH and Steven Whitman, PhD

Jennifer M. Orsi, Helen Margellos-Anast, and Steven Whitman are with the Sinai Urban Health Institute, Sinai Health System, Chicago, IL.

Correspondence: Correspondence should be sent to Jennifer Orsi, Sinai Urban Health Institute, California Ave at 15th St, K443, Chicago, IL 60608 (e-mail: orsje{at}sinai.org). Reprints can be ordered at http://www.ajph.org by clicking the "Reprints/Eprints" link.

Objectives. In an effort to examine national and Chicago, Illinois, progress in meeting the Healthy People 2010 goal of eliminating health disparities, we examined whether disparities between non-Hispanic Black and non-Hispanic White persons widened, narrowed, or stayed the same between 1990 and 2005.

Methods. We examined 15 health status indicators. We determined whether a disparity widened, narrowed, or remained unchanged between 1990 and 2005 by examining the percentage difference in rates between non-Hispanic Black and non-Hispanic White populations at both time points and at each location. We calculated P values to determine whether changes in percentage difference over time were statistically significant.

Results. Disparities between non-Hispanic Black and non-Hispanic White populations widened for 6 of 15 health status indicators examined for the United States (5 significantly), whereas in Chicago the majority of disparities widened (11 of 15, 5 significantly).

Conclusions. Overall, progress toward meeting the Healthy People 2010 goal of eliminating health disparities in the United States and in Chicago remains bleak. With more than 15 years of time and effort spent at the national and local level to reduce disparities, the impact remains negligible.

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