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The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA |
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The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA |
R. Dawn Comstock, MS, Graduate School of Public Health, University of California San Diego/San Diego State University, Currently at CDC/NCEH/EHSB, 4770 Buford HWY NE, MS F-28, Atlanta, GA 30341-3717, (770) 488-7715, Rcomstock@cdc.gov and Edward M. Castillo, MPH, Health and Human Services Agency, Division of Emergency Medical Services, County of San Diego, 6255 Mission Gorge Rd, San Diego, CA 92120.
Objective: A growing number of researchers are questioning how race and ethnicity should be used as scientific variables, how they should be assessed, and how data resulting from their use should be interpreted. This study undertook a comprehensive historical review of the recent practices of epidemiologist/public health researchers amid the growing controversy over the appropriate use of race and ethnicity in scientific research.
Methods: Articles published from 1996 – 1999 in American Journal of Public Health and American Journal of Epidemiology presenting research involving human subjects from the United States were reviewed to determine how researchers addressed the issues of race and ethnicity.
Results: Of the 1,198 articles reviewed, 919 (76.7%) contained references to race or ethnicity. This study found that the language used to discuss race and ethnicity in the public health/epidemiologic literature is diverse, non-standardized, and not well defined. The majority of the articles reviewed failed to describe why race or ethnicity were used as variables, the method for assessing these variables, the rationale behind their categorization, the context or method of their use, or the implications of findings pertaining to these variables.
Conclusions: Despite the prevalence of the use of race and ethnicity in research, this extensive review of the literature indicates that the scientific community has not come to consensus concerning guidelines for the use of these variables. For this to happen, discourse must occur within research societies and schools of public health/medicine, as well as between researchers and the wide variety of racial and ethnic communities within which they work.
Learning Objectives:
Keywords: Ethnicity, Research Ethics
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.