Racial Differences in Data Quality and Completeness: Spinal Cord Injury Model Systems' Experiences

Area of Science:

• Health Services Research
• Epidemiology
• Rehabilitation Medicine

Background:

• Minority populations with spinal cord injury (SCI) face a higher disease burden.
• Understanding racial/ethnic data quality is crucial for designing effective health disparity research in SCI.
• Identifying potential errors and biases in SCI data collection is essential.

Purpose of the Study:

• To examine racial and ethnic variations in response completeness within a national SCI database.
• To assess how race and ethnicity influence data quality in longitudinal SCI studies.

Main Methods:

• Analysis of 7,507 participants in the National SCI Database (2001-2006).
• Inclusion criteria: age ≥18 at follow-up, with data on non-Hispanic whites, non-Hispanic blacks, and Hispanics.
• Missing data defined as missing, unknown, or refused responses; analyzed across multiple outcome measures.

Main Results:

• Overall missing data rate was 29.7% for the CHART economic self-sufficiency subscale.
• Higher missing rates for the CHART measure were observed in non-Hispanic blacks and Hispanics compared to non-Hispanic whites, even after controlling for covariates.
• Non-Hispanic blacks also showed significantly higher missing data rates in other outcome measures compared to non-Hispanic whites.

Conclusions:

• Racial and ethnic differences in response completeness are significant in SCI research.
• Methodological improvements are needed to address non-response and improve data completeness, especially for non-Hispanic blacks.
• Addressing these data quality issues is vital for accurately understanding and reducing racial/ethnic disparities in the SCI population.