Social Determinants of Health Research at NIMHD: An Analysis of Studies Funded During 2019-2023

Social determinants of health (SDOH) contribute to differences in health outcomes and exacerbate health disparities. This study characterizes the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities' (NIMHD) portfolio of funded grants in SDOH research, identifies gaps, and provides suggestions for future research.

Using the National Institutes of Health's SDOH Research, Condition, and Disease Categorization, research projects funded from 2019 to 2023 were identified and linked with NIMHD's internal coding system to extract in-depth study characteristics, including sociodemographics of study participants, disease and condition focus, and alignment with strategic priorities. Natural Language Processing methods were used to categorize projects into five Healthy People 2030 SDOH domains.

The resulting sample included 675 unique research projects. Most projects included racial and ethnic minority groups (89%), followed by people with lower socioeconomic status (33%), underserved rural communities (16%), and sexual and gender minority groups (13%). Most projects focused on the Etiology of health disparities (61%), followed by Interventions (54%), and Methods and Measurement (39%). Of the Healthy People 2030 domains, Social and Community Context had the greatest representation (61%) whereas Education Access and Quality had the least (6%). Variation in research project characteristics across SDOH domains is also presented.

This study documents characteristics of SDOH research funded by NIMHD and explores how they differ across Healthy People 2030 SDOH domains. Findings highlight how study characteristics and foci align with strategic priorities and suggest opportunities for future research.