Health outcomes can vary depending on a person’s ethnicity. For example, people from some ethnic minorities are more likely to die from COVID-19 and are at increased risk of developing complications. It is likely that many factors contribute to this, such as:
Structural racism
Accessibility of healthcare
Stereotyping
Inequality in medical devices
The intersection of ethnicity with other social determinants, such as deprivation
To improve health outcomes, policymakers need access to evidence which provides them with a better understanding of why some people are at higher risk of becoming seriously unwell than others. To do this, researchers must understand the differences, including consistency and completeness, in how ethnicity is recorded.
Project aims
We want to understand the differences, including consistency and completeness, in ethnicity recording in UK electronic health records and longitudinal studies (studies looking at a group of people over an extended period).
This will inform how ethnicity should be defined in future COVID-19 studies.
What we hope to achieve
This study will inform how ethnicity should be defined in future COVID-19 studies and beyond.
Insights from this study may also contribute to wider considerations regarding policy and practice of recording ethnicity.
Partners
Members of the My Coffee Morning at Barton Hill have been involved with this project since it’s planning stages and will continue to be involved throughout.
