The use of race and ethnicity in science policy and regulations

Purpose Federal policies and regulations implemented over the past decade require inclusion of race and ethnicity in most federally funded health research, including epidemiologic studies. Biomedical journal editors also provide guidance as to how to present racial and ethnic data. The objective of this study was to assess the extent to which recent epidemiologic research is achieving the goals of these policies. Methods Both federal policies and regulations and biomedical journal editor manuscript requirements governing the use of race and ethnicity data were identified. Epidemiologic studies published between December 2002 and December 2003 in the Annals of Epidemiology, American Journal of Epidemiology, and Epidemiology were reviewed for consistency with these policies and regulations. Articles were included in the review if they were human studies with individual-level outcomes and were conducted in the United States. Publications were examined to determine funding sources, rationale and methods for collecting racial and ethnic data, use of race or ethnicity in the study, data analysis methods (including use of race and ethnicity in multivariate analyses), and the extent to which race and ethnicity were addressed in presentations of results, interpretation, and discussion. Results Relevant inclusion policies and regulations were identified from U.S. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry/Centers for Disease Control (ATSDR/CDC), Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Health and Human Services (HHS), and National Institutes of Health (NIH). More than 80% of studies reviewed were supported at least in part by NIH or CDC, and race and ethnicity were mentioned in more than 90% of studies; however, fewer than half of these studies provided a rationale for including race and ethnicity data or the methods used for collecting such information. Three out of four studies included race and ethnicity in statistical analyses, yet the results of these analyses were discussed in only half of studies reviewed. Conclusion Although reporting of race and ethnicity in the epidemiologic literature has increased in recent years, this review finds the treatment of race and ethnicity to be incomplete and inconsistent. The use of race and ethnicity in epidemiologic studies can be improved by implementing existing policy.