WEDNESDAY, March 1, 2006 (HealthDay News) -- By changing the way they gather information about their patients' race and ethnicity, doctors could improve efforts to eliminate race-linked gaps in health care, a U.S. study shows.
Patients who were asked to describe their race and ethnicity were more likely to answer the question -- and give more accurate answers -- than if they were asked to check off a box for one of the federal government's categories for race and ethnicity.
For example, patients who were asked to describe their race and ethnicity were less likely to select the "unknown" or "other" category if they were given the opportunity to be specific.
"What's unique about this method is that it doesn't force a patient into an inappropriate category, or leave out the data altogether because there isn't a category that fits," study author Dr. David Baker, of Northwestern University, said in a prepared statement. "Our research shows it's a method that works better for patients and researchers."
He and his colleagues found that asking patients to describe their race and ethnicity took an average of 37 seconds, just 17 seconds longer than the average time for completing the questions. Collecting patient information this way may also help health-care professionals quickly identify and respond to emerging trends among very specific racial and ethnic groups, the researchers said.
They noted that research has shown that racial and ethnic minorities in the United States often received a lower quality of health care than whites.
"The first step toward addressing this problem is for health-care providers to routinely collect data on patients' race, ethnicity and language, and link these data to measures of quality, safety and utilization," the researchers wrote.
More information
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has more about racial/ethnic health disparities.
