Health disparities are defined as:

• A. Health equity.
• B. Preventable differences in healthcare outcomes, access, or quality related to factors such as race, ethnicity, income, education, geography, gender, or sexual orientation.
• C. The absence of treatment.
• D. Differences in patient preferences.

Answer: (B)

Health disparities describe preventable differences in health outcomes, access to care, or quality of care experienced by different population groups. These differences arise from social determinants of health such as race, ethnicity, income, education, geography, gender, and sexual orientation, and they reflect inequities in the health system rather than natural variation. This option best captures the defining elements: the focus on outcomes, access, or quality that are preventable and tied to social factors that create unfair differences.

Health equity is the goal we aim for, not the definition of disparities. An absence of treatment is a specific problem that can contribute to disparities but doesn’t by itself define the broader concept. Differences in patient preferences aren’t disparities unless they translate into unequal access or outcomes.