Defining race/ethnicity and explaining difference in research studies on lung function.

Area of Science:

• Pulmonary Medicine
• Medical Research Methodology
• Sociology in Science

Background:

• The American Thoracic Society/European Respiratory Society (ATS/ERS) 2005 guidelines advocate for race- and/or ethnic-specific reference standards in spirometry.
• Global variations exist in defining race and ethnicity, complicating the application of these guidelines.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess how researchers define race and/or ethnicity in lung function studies.
• To analyze the explanations provided for observed differences in lung function across racial and ethnic groups.

Main Methods:

• A systematic review methodology was employed.
• PubMed was searched in July 2008, screening 10,471 titles and abstracts.
• 226 articles published between 1922 and 2008 comparing "white" to "other racial and ethnic groups" were deemed eligible.

Main Results:

• Only 17.3% of eligible articles defined race and/or ethnicity, though this increased to 70% in the 2000s for studies with parallel controls.
• 83.6% of studies reported lower lung capacity in "other racial and ethnic groups" compared to "white" groups.
• 94% of articles failed to examine socioeconomic status; explanations for lung function differences often cited inherent (21.8%) or anthropometric (29.4%) factors over environmental/social factors (23.1%).

Conclusions:

• Researchers frequently fail to define race and ethnicity in lung function research.
• Observed lung function differences between racial/ethnic groups are often attributed to inherent factors without adequate justification.
• There is a need for clearer definitions and more comprehensive analyses, including socioeconomic factors, when investigating racial/ethnic disparities in lung function.