Abstract

Discrimination in healthcare is one of the main concerns of healthcare systems around the world. A systematic review can help to clarify and integrate results from different pieces of evidence about discrimination in healthcare. Articles published in English were retrieved using the main keywords in the Scopus, PubMed, and Web of Science databases without a time limit. Then, the items with inclusion criteria were studied and analyzed. Out of the 322 retrieved articles, 23 articles were reviewed. Analyzing the articles and extracting the data was done by two researchers simultaneously, and data were summarized thematically. Two main concepts emerged: "Socio-demographic factors as the main factor of healthcare discrimination" and "change in health behavior." Finally, discrimination continues to be a serious international challenge in the health services. Health managers should identify the related factors that cause discrimination in health and develop preventive measures.

Keywords: Ethics, Discrimination, Health Care, Systematic Review.