Conclusion and future directions: CDC Health Disparities and Inequalities Report - United States, 2013

The reports in this supplement document persistent disparities between some population groups in health outcomes, access to health care, adoption of health promoting behaviors, and exposure to health-promoting environments. Some improvements in overall rates and even reductions in some health disparities are noted; however, many gaps persist. These finding highlight the importance of monitoring health status, outcomes, behaviors, and exposures by population groups to assess trends and target interventions. In this report, disparities were found between race and ethnic groups across all of the health topics examined. Differences also were observed by other population characteristics. For example, persons with low socioeconomic status were more likely to be affected by diabetes, hypertension, and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection and were less likely to be screened for colorectal cancer and vaccinated against influenza.