November 15, 2006

Better Questions May Bring Better Minority Health Care

Asking patients to describe their ethnicity improves data gathering

Asking patients to describe their ethnicity improves data gathering

Thursday, March 2, 2006—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.

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