Area-Level Racial Prejudice and Health: A Systematic Review

Background: In recent years, there has been growing interest in "moving beyond the individual" to measure area-level racism as a social determinant of health. Much of this work has aggregated racial prejudice data collected at the individual-level to the area-level. Objective: As this is a rapidly emerging area of research, we conducted a systematic literature review to describe evidence of the relationship between area-level racial prejudice and health, whether results differed by race/ethnicity, and to characterize key conceptual and methodological considerations to guide future research. Method: We searched four interdisciplinary databases for US-based, peer-reviewed articles measuring area level racial prejudice by aggregating individual-level indicators of racial prejudice and examining associations with mental or physical health outcome(s). Data extraction followed PRISMA guidelines and also included theory and conceptualization, pathways to health, and strengths and limitations. Results: Fourteen of 14,632 identified articles met inclusion criteria and were included in the review. Health outcomes spanned all-cause (n = 4) and cause-specific (n = 4) mortality, birth outcomes (n = 4), cardiovascular outcomes (n = 2), mental health (n = 1), and self-rated health (n = 1). All studies found a positive association between area-level racial prejudice and adverse health outcomes among racial/ethnic minoritized groups, with four studies also showing a similar association among Whites. Engagement with formal theory was limited and exposure conceptualization was mixed. Methodological considerations included unmeasured confounding and trade-offs between generalizability, self-censorship, and specificity of measurement. Conclusions: Future research should continue to develop the conceptual and methodological rigor of this work and test hypotheses to inform evidence-based interventions to advance population health and reduce racial health inequities.