Surgical Health Disparities Research: An Annals of Surgery Special Series

Racial, ethnic, and economic disparities in health care are among the most egregious injustices in our society. For decades studies have shown that disparities in access to surgery, surgical treatment and surgical outcomes have shortened and reduced quality of life for underserved and minority patients yet there has been little progress in narrowing the gap. The surgical literature is with replete descriptive data describing disparities across specialties, but there is a relative paucity of studies designed to eliminate disparities and improve health outcomes. Innovative, cross disciplinary surgical health services research is required so that we may stop ‘‘staring at the problem’’ and move towards actionable change. As part of our commitment to advancing social justice and eliminating inequities in surgery, Annals of Surgery will prioritize innovative, high quality and high impact research that advances science and policy towards equity. In this issue of we launch our series, ‘‘Rethinking Surgical Disparities Research: Improving the Science to Promote Equity,’’ about key topics germane to advancing surgical disparities research to eliminate rather than to solely describe inequities in surgical treatment and outcomes. We hope that these articles will inform and inspire rigorous research to abolish inequities in surgical care and outcomes.