Racism and health in Aotearoa New Zealand: a systematic review of quantitative studies

BACKGROUND: Racism is an underlying cause of ethnic health inequities both in Aotearoa New Zealand and internationally. It is timely to synthesise racism and health research within New Zealand particularly given the current policy environment and shift towards addressing the health effects of racism. AIM: To review quantitative research examining self-reported experiences of racial discrimination and associations with measures of health (health conditions, health risk, health status and healthcare) in New Zealand. METHODS: MEDLINE, PsycINFO, Web of Science and CINAHL databases were searched for studies reporting on associations between experiences of racism and health. RESULTS: The systematic review identified 24 quantitative studies reporting associations between self-reported racial discrimination across a wide range of health measures including mental health, physical health, self-rated health, wellbeing, individual level health risks, and healthcare indicators. CONCLUSIONS: Quantitative racism and health research in New Zealand consistently finds that self-reported racial discrimination is associated with a range of poorer health outcomes and reduced access to and quality of healthcare. This review confirms that experience of racial discrimination is an important determinant of health in New Zealand, as it is internationally. There is a pressing need for effectively designed interventions to address the impacts of racism on health.