Eliminating missing race/ethnicity data from a sexually transmitted disease case registry

Area of Science:

• Public Health
• Epidemiology
• Health Informatics

Background:

• Race and ethnicity data are vital for public health surveillance, particularly for sexually transmitted diseases (STDs).
• Incomplete demographic data hinders accurate disease tracking and targeted interventions.
• Providers frequently omit race/ethnicity information in case reports.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess the effectiveness of a targeted outreach strategy for improving race and ethnicity data completeness in STD reporting.
• To identify challenges and potential alternative methods for collecting demographic information in public health surveillance.

Main Methods:

• A retrospective review of sexually transmitted disease (syphilis, gonorrhea, chlamydia) case reports in Massachusetts from March 1 to May 31, 1999.
• A student intern attempted to contact healthcare providers via telephone to obtain missing race/ethnicity data.
• Analysis of the success rate and efficiency of telephone-based data collection.

Main Results:

• Out of 2,954 reported cases, 34.8% initially lacked race/ethnicity data.
• Despite multiple calls and transfers, only 143 additional cases had their data completed.
• The completeness of race/ethnicity data increased from 65.2% to 70.0%.

Conclusions:

• Telephone-based outreach is an inefficient method for improving race/ethnicity data completeness in STD surveillance.
• Alternative data collection strategies, such as using surname lists or census data, warrant further investigation.
• Improving data completeness is essential for effective public health surveillance and STD control efforts.