Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Comment
  • Published:

Strategies to record and use ethnicity information in routine health data

Nature Medicine volume 28, pages 1338–1342 (2022)Cite this article

Subjects

Ethnicity information is often missing from health data, impeding action on inequalities. Recording and using ethnicity data will require training, efforts at standardization, and policy changes, while engaging with patients and the public.

Access through your institution
Buy or subscribe

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Relevant articles

Open Access articles citing this article.

Access options

Access through your institution

Buy this article

  • Purchase on SpringerLink
  • Instant access to full article PDF
Buy now

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

References

  1. Bhopal, R. et al. Public Health 126, 241–244 (2012).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Lymperopoulou, K. et al. Urban Stud. 54, 2540–2560 (2017).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Marmot, M., Allen, J., Goldblatt, P., Herd, E. & Morrison, J. Build Back Fairer: The COVID-19 Marmot Review (Institute of Health Equity, 2020).

  4. Scobie, S. et al. Ethnicity Coding in English Health Service Datasets (Nuffield Trust, 2021).

  5. Pan, D. et al. eClinicalMedicine 23, 100404 (2020).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Oltermann, P. et al. The Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/jun/16/france-and-germany-urged-to-rethink-reluctance-to-gather-ethnicity-data (16 June 2020).

  7. Csepeli, G. et al. J. Ethnic Migr. Stud. 30, 129–150 (2004).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Webb Hooper, M. et al. J. Am. Med. Assoc. 323, 2466–2467 (2020).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Katikireddi, S. V. et al. J. Epidemiol. Community Health 75, 970 (2021).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Bhopal, R. Migration, Ethnicity, Race, and Health in Multicultural Societies (Oxford Univ. Press, 2014).

  11. Davis, F. J. Who is Black? One Nation’s Definition (Pennsylvania State Univ. Press, 2010).

  12. Bhopal, R. et al. Br. Med. J. 319, 215 (1999).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  13. Bauer, G. R. Soc. Sci. Med. 110, 10–17 (2014).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  14. Ethnic group, national identity and religion. Office for National Statistics https://www.ons.gov.uk/methodology/classificationsandstandards/measuringequality/ethnicgroupnationalidentityandreligion (2022).

  15. Balestra, C. et al. Diversity Statistics in the OECD: How do OECD Countries Collect Data on Ethnic, Racial and Indigenous Identity? (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, 2018).

  16. Farkas, L. Analysis and Comparative Review of Equality Data Collection Practices in the European Union: Data Collection in the Field of Ethnicity (Publications Office of the European Union, 2017).

  17. Our data, our sovereignty, our future. Māori Data Sovereignty Network https://www.temanararaunga.maori.nz/ (2022).

  18. Iqbal, G. et al. Diversity Equal. Health Care 6, 267–285 (2009).

    Google Scholar 

  19. Iqbal, G. et al. BMC Public Health 12, 243 (2012).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  20. Saunders, C. L. et al. BMJ Open 3, e002882 (2013).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  21. Mathur, R. et al. J. Public Health 36, 684–692 (2013).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  22. Morrison, Z. et al. Inform. Prim. Care 21, 118–131 (2014).

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  23. Khunti, K. et al. Br. Med. J. 371, m4493 (2020).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  24. Nafilyan, V. et al. Eur. J. Epidemiol. 36, 605–617 (2021).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  25. Vos, T. et al. Lancet 396, 1204–1222 (2020).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  26. McGregor-Smith, R. Race in the Workplace: The McGregor-Smith Review (Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy, 2017).

Download references

Acknowledgements

The views expressed in this article are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of UKRI, the NIHR, or the Department of Health and Social Care. S.V.K. acknowledges funding from a NRS Senior Clinical Fellowship (SCAF/15/02), the Medical Research Council (MC_UU_00022/2) and the Scottish Government Chief Scientist Office (SPHSU17). R.M. is funded by a postdoctoral fellowship from the Wellcome Trust (201375/Z/16/Z).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Diabetes Research Centre, Leicester General Hospital, University of Leicester, Leicester, UK

    Ash Routen & Kamlesh Khunti

  2. Population Data Science, Swansea University Medical School, Swansea University, Swansea, UK

    Ashley Akbari

  3. Faculty of Population Health Sciences, Institute of Health Informatics, University College London, London, UK

    Amitava Banerjee

  4. MRC/CSO Social and Public Health Sciences Unit, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, UK

    Srinivasa Vittal Katikireddi

  5. London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, Faculty of Epidemiology and Population Health, London, UK

    Rohini Mathur

  6. London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, Faculty of Public Health & Policy, London, UK

    Martin McKee

  7. Office for National Statistics, Government Buildings, Newport, UK

    Vahe Nafilyan

Authors
  1. Ash Routen
    View author publications

    Search author on:PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Ashley Akbari
    View author publications

    Search author on:PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Amitava Banerjee
    View author publications

    Search author on:PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Srinivasa Vittal Katikireddi
    View author publications

    Search author on:PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Rohini Mathur
    View author publications

    Search author on:PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Martin McKee
    View author publications

    Search author on:PubMed Google Scholar

  7. Vahe Nafilyan
    View author publications

    Search author on:PubMed Google Scholar

  8. Kamlesh Khunti
    View author publications

    Search author on:PubMed Google Scholar

Contributions

All authors led on drafting, editing and revising the content. All authors approved the final version and are accountable for all aspects of this work.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Kamlesh Khunti.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

K.K. is a director of the University of Leicester Centre for Ethnic Health Research, trustee of the South Asian Health Foundation, chair of the Ethnicity Subgroup of the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE). S.V.K. was co-chair of the Scottish Government’s Expert Reference Group on ethnicity and COVID-19 and a member of the Ethnicity Subgroup of SAGE. R.M. is a member of the Ethnicity Subgroup of SAGE.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Routen, A., Akbari, A., Banerjee, A. et al. Strategies to record and use ethnicity information in routine health data. Nat Med 28, 1338–1342 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41591-022-01842-y

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41591-022-01842-y

This article is cited by

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing