The need for improved collection and coding of ethnicity in health research
Kamlesh Khunti, Ash Routen, Amitava Banerjee, Manish Pareek
Abstract
Coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) has exposed the need for improved collection and coding of ethnicity, despite years of debate on the issue.1,2 A review found only 7% of Covid-19 research papers and surveillance reports presented ethnicity-disaggregated data.3 Complete, detailed and accurate ethnicity data are required for clinicians, researchers and policy makers to further examine outcomes and their causes, and manage healthcare needs related to Covid-19 in ethnic minority populations. The completeness of ethnicity data within healthcare and routine databases has been poor historically. For example, only 27% of patients in Clinical Practice Research Datalink had ethnicity recorded between 1990 and 2012.4 In addition, accuracy is often low, with 20–35% error in coding of major ethnic minority groups in NHS hospital records when compared to self-reported ethnicity.5 Reasons for poor quality ethnicity data may include a lack of understanding on the importance of the data,...