In addition to social determinants of health, such as economic resources, education, access to care and various environmental factors, there is growing evidence that political polarization poses a substantial risk to individual and collective well-being. Here we review the impact of political polarization on public health. We describe the different forms of polarization and how they are connected to health outcomes, highlighting the COVID-19 pandemic as a case study of the health risks of polarization. We then offer strategies for mitigating potential harms associated with polarization, with an emphasis on building social trust. Finally, we propose future research directions on this topic, underscore the need for more work in a global context and encourage greater collaboration between social scientists and medical scientists. We conclude that polarization is a serious—if largely overlooked—determinant of health, whose impacts must be more thoroughly understood and mitigated.

除了健康的社会决定因素，如经济资源、教育、获得护理的机会和各种环境因素外，越来越多的证据表明，政治两极分化对个人和集体福祉构成重大风险。在这里，我们回顾了政治两极分化对公共卫生的影响。我们描述了不同形式的两极分化以及它们如何与健康结果相关联，强调 COVID-19 大流行作为两极分化健康风险的案例研究。然后，我们提供减轻与两极分化相关的潜在危害的策略，重点是建立社会信任。最后，我们提出了有关该主题的未来研究方向，强调了在全球背景下开展更多工作的必要性，并鼓励社会科学家和医学科学家之间加强合作。我们得出的结论是，两极分化是健康的一个严重决定因素，尽管在很大程度上被忽视了，必须更彻底地了解和减轻其影响。