Abstract
Background - Although widespread, the burden of disease presented by chronic kidney disease (CKD) is not equally distributed among all demographics. By examining the social determinants of health (SDOH) that relate to barriers to renal dialysis care in CKD, we can help to prevent future disparities. There has not been a study addressing the social factors that create barriers to care for ethnic minority patients with CKD.
Objectives - The aim of our scoping review is to address the SDOH that affect access to renal dialysis for ethnic minority patients in the United States.
Methods - This study was based on the protocol published by the Joanna Briggs Institute. We identified a total of 349 studies from PubMed, EBSCOhost, and Embase. Each article was screened against the following criteria in order to be considered for inclusion: 1) population: adults of all genders from underrepresented minority populations; 2) concept: social determinants of health; 3) context: United States population.
Results - From the eleven articles selected by our search criteria, we identified race, socioeconomic status, immigration status, and language as SDOH affecting access to renal dialysis care.
Conclusion - While our study identified four social determinants, more research is needed for the investigation of other possible SDOH contributing to disparities related to CKD and access to renal dialysis care.
