AIMS AND SCOPE
Clinical Medicine Insights: Women’s Health is an international, open-access, peer-reviewed journal which considers manuscripts on all aspects of the diagnosis, management, and prevention of disorders specific to women, in addition to related genetic, pathophysiological, and epidemiological topics. Clinical Medicine Insights: Women’s Health aims to provide researchers working in this complex, quickly developing field with online, open access to highly relevant scholarly articles by leading international researchers. In a field where the literature is ever-expanding, researchers increasingly need access to up-to-date, high-quality scholarly articles on areas of specific contemporary interest. This supplement is on Health Disparities in Women. This supplement aims to address this by presenting high-quality articles that allow readers to distinguish the signal from the noise. The editor in chief hopes that through this effort, practitioners and researchers will be aided in finding answers to some of the most complex and pressing issues of our time.
“Health disparities” is a comprehensive term that can be interpreted in a variety of ways by different individuals, communities, and research groups. The 2016 World Health Statistics report, produced by the World Health Organization (WHO), identifies inequalities in several global health and health-related issues (life expectancy, sanitation, health coverage, etc.) based on multiple factors including geography, socioeconomic status, race/ethnicity, age, and sex.1 As the Guest Editors and the authors included in this Special Issue reside and conduct research in the United States (US), we appreciate that the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) also acknowledge that illness, disease, disability, and premature death affect particular groups disproportionately. This prompted the CDC to develop and release a series of reports entitled CDC Health Disparities and Inequalities Report. The most recent report was published in 2013 and used a multifaceted approach to examine subject areas that contribute to health disparities in the US. These factors include social determinants (education, employment, income), environment (work-related injuries, access to major highways), healthcare coverage (insurance coverage), behavioral risk factors (alcohol use, smoking), morbidity (obesity, diabetes, preterm births, quality of life), and mortality (coronary heart disease and stroke deaths, infant mortality, drug-related deaths, homicides, suicides).2 The extensive nature of these WHO and CDC reports emphasizes just how broad the term health disparities can be when described as an area of study.
In the current Clinical Medicine Insights: Women’s Health supplement, entitled Health Disparities in Women, the Guest Editors chose to embrace the breadth of the topic. As such, we set out to solicit manuscripts covering a variety of health-related topics that affect women of diverse populations in disparate proportions. The 13 papers published in this supplement cover topics ranging from healthcare in Latina women to health promotion in African American beauty salons. Barriers in cancer research and the reproductive decisions of women living with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) are also topics of research included in this issue. In addition, there are multiple papers that examine the increasing importance of physical activity and physical fitness within several different contexts (cross-sectional comparison, intervention effects, review of current evidence) and in various populations (pregnancy, rural residing, low socioeconomic status, college students). Furthermore, this issue contains studies that examine psychosocial and emotional influences on health-related disparities. It should also be noted that the content of this issue is largely rooted in racial/ethnic health disparities. As this was not an intentional focus of the supplement, we feel this may speak to the fact that this area is of high relevance and/or interest to many health investigators due to its public health relevance.
Although the Guest Editors feel this special issue achieved its goal of providing a publication that explores an eclectic range of topics, we recognize that the areas covered in this publication are a relatively small representation of the exploration needed to affect health disparities in women around the world. The Guest Editors also note that this supplemental issue did not cover health disparities in girls and young adolescents, and acknowledge that the examination of this group is of critical importance when attempting to make any significant health impact in women. With that said, we do hope this issue reaches research groups globally and brings forth additional conversations and ideas about further investigation into the numerous health issues that disproportionately affect women of all walks of life. The Guest Editors also hope that this issue brings awareness to the various and significant aspects of Health Disparities in Women, and we hope that this awareness ultimately leads to a reduction in the many health disparities that exist in women around the world.
Lead Guest Editor DR LYNDSEY M HORNBUCKLE
Dr Lyndsey M Hornbuckle is an Assistant Professor of Exercise Physiology in the Department of Kinesiology, Recreation, and Sport Studies at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. She completed her PhD in Exercise Science at Florida State University. Her primary area of research interest includes the effects of exercise and physical activity on body composition and cardiovascular disease risk factors in underrepresented populations, with a particular interest in women. Dr Hornbuckle is the author or co-author of several published papers in this area of study and continually presents her work at professional conferences. Learn more about Dr Hornbuckle by visiting her institutional Web page: http://krss.utk.edu/faculty-staff/lyndsey-hornbuckle-phd-rd/. Email: lhornbuc@utk.edu
Guest Editors
DR NDIDIAMAKA AMUTAH-ONUKAGHA
Dr Ndidiamaka Amutah-Onukagha is an Assistant Professor of Public Health in the Department of Public Health at Montclair State University. She completed her PhD in Maternal and Child Health at the University of Maryland, College Park, and has an extensive background in health disparities work in a variety of settings from community-based to the federal government. Her current research interests include HIV/AIDS in women of color, health disparities, and maternal and child health. Dr Amutah-Onukagha is the author or co-author of several published papers in this area and frequently presents her work at professional conferences both domestically and abroad. Learn more about Dr Amutah-Onukagha by visiting her institutional Web page: https://www.montclair.edu/cehs/academics/departments/public-health/faculty-and-staff/.
Email: amutahn@mail.montclair.edu
Guest Editors
DR ALICIA BRYAN
Dr Alicia Bryan is an Associate Professor of Health, Physical Education and Exercise Science at Columbus State University in Georgia. She completed her PhD at the University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa in Kinesiology. She now works primarily in curriculum design and implementation investigating technology and physical activity adherence in college-aged adults. Dr Bryan has received several grants in this area and has presented at professional conferences both nationally and internationally. She holds an editorial appointment at the Athens Journal of Sports. Learn more about Dr Bryan by visiting her institutional Web page: https://hpex.columbusstate.edu/faculty_pages/tatum.php.
Email: bryan_alicia@columbusstate.edu
Guest Editors
DR ELIZABETH SKIDMORE EDWARDS
Dr Elizabeth Skidmore Edwards is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Kinesiology and the Executive Director of the Morrison Bruce Center at James Madison University. She completed her PhD at University of Miami. She now works primarily in the determinants of physical activity participation and how they may differ between genders. Dr Edwards is the author or coauthor of 6 published papers and more than 25 refereed conference presentations. Learn more about Dr Edwards by visiting her institutional Web page: https://www.jmu.edu/kinesiology/people/edwards.html.
Email: edwardes@jmu.edu
Guest Editors
DR TAKUDZWA MADZIMA
Dr Takudzwa Madzima is an Assistant Professor of Exercise Science at Elon University. He completed his PhD in Exercise Physiology at Florida State University. His primary area of research interests involves investigating the efficacy of exercise and dietary interventions to counteract the physical and psychosocial side effects of both cancer and cancer therapies in breast and prostate cancer survivors. In addition, he is interested in the effect of nutrient timing, particularly at nighttime, on metabolism, body composition, and appetite in both active and sedentary adults. Dr Madzima is an author of several published papers in his area of interest and continues to present this work at professional conferences. Learn more about Dr Madzima by visiting his institutional Web page: https://www.elon.edu/e/directory/profile.html?user=tmadzima.
Email: tmadzima@elon.edu
Guest Editors
DR KELLY MASSEY
Dr Kelly Massey is an Assistant Professor of Exercise Science at Georgia College. She completed her PhD at Georgia State University and has previously worked at Georgia Institute of Technology and Kennesaw State University. Currently, she works primarily in fat metabolism and cardiovascular rehabilitation. Dr Massey is the author or co-author of multiple published papers and has presented at many regional, national, and international professional conferences.
Email: kelly.massey@gcsu.edu
Guest Editors
DR LINDA MAY
Dr Linda May is an Assistant Professor of Anatomy at East Carolina University. She completed her PhD at Kent State University and Northeastern Ohio Universities College of Medicine and has previously worked at University of Florida. She now works primarily in the area of study focused on the influence of exercise during pregnancy on offspring outcomes (neonatal and child). Dr May is the author or co-author of 45 published papers and has presented her work at 16 conferences. She holds editorial appointments at Clinical Pediatrics, Journal of Clinical and Medical Case Reports, Journal of Gynecology and Obstetrics, World Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, and the Journal of Dentistry, Oral Disorders & Therapy. Learn more about Dr May by visiting her institutional Web page: http://www.ecu.edu/cs-dhs/dental/employee.cfm?id=659.
Email: mayl@ecu.edu
Guest Editors
DR LEAH E ROBINSON
Dr Leah E Robinson is an Associate Professor of Movement Science and a Research Associate Professor in the Center for Human Growth and Development at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. She is a Fellow of the American College of Sports Medicine. Dr Robinson completed her PhD at The Ohio State University and her research takes a developmental approach to motor skill acquisition, physical activity, and developmental health in pediatric populations. Dr Robinson has authored over 60 peer-reviewed articles and her research has been funded by the National Institutes of Health, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, and the University of Michigan Momentum Center for Childhood Obesity. Learn more about Dr Robinson by visiting her institutional Web page: http://www.cmahlab.com/.
Email: lerobin@umich.edu
Footnotes
PEER REVIEW: The material included in this editorial was reviewed and approved by all guest editors; however, it was not subject to a formal external peer review.
FUNDING: The author(s) received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.
DECLARATION OF CONFLICTING INTERESTS: The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.
REFERENCES
- 1.World Health Organization World Health Statistics 2016: monitoring health for the SDGs, sustainable development goals. World Health Statistics. 2016. pp. 1–121. http://www.who.int/gho/publications/world_health_statistics/2016/en/
- 2.Centers for Disease Control and Prevention CDC health disparities and inequalities report—United States, 2013. MMWR. 2013;62:1–189. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]