Using Ethnicity as a Classification Variable in Health Research: Perpetuating the myth of biological determinism, serving socio-political agendas, or making valuable contributions to medical sciences?

Abstract

There is a need for a valid way to classify the human species consistently and reliably, be it to highlight similarities between human populations such as intelligence or physical capacity, to dispel myths about group differences, or to discover 'novel' risk factors for diseases. In contrast to racial divisions, which are usually based on differences in skin colour and physical features, ethnicity is a complex concept which has both socio-cultural and biological components. However, because of the relative vagueness of the term, the interpretation of the 'Ethnicity' construct is not simple, and its definition is often unique to the research project at hand. Therefore conducting ethnicity-research necessitates being aware of the differences between the concept of ethnicity and race, acknowledgement of the complexity of the ethnicity construct, and requires that a clear definition of the use of this term be made explicit by the researcher.

Ethnicity modifies the association between diabetes mellitus and ischaemic heart disease in Chinese, Malays and Asian Indians living in Singapore

“…In addressing these ethnic differences, it is important to realise that ethnicity (unlike race) is a construct that encompasses both genetic and cultural (e.g. language, religion, diet) differences [42,43]. We have to be careful not to assume that these observations are due solely to underlying genetic differences.…”

Assessing Differences in Mortality Rates and Risk Factors Between Hispanic and Non-Hispanic Patients With Cystic Fibrosis in California

“…42,43 Social and biomedical scientists have cautioned against the classification of patients by ethnicity and race in biomedical research because of reifying race. [42][43][44][45] However, patients of Hispanic ethnicity have been described as experiencing a variety of other health disparities, often related to differences in health-care access, acculturation, and languagerelated barriers to care. [10][11][12] This study adds to the literature supporting the existence of health disparities for patients of Hispanic ethnicity; however, the generalizability is limited because of the specific disease progression and management experienced by patients with CF.…”

Global Burden of Cardiovascular Diseases

“…25 Because individuals of different ethnic backgrounds tend to live in distinct regions and societies, variations in disease rates by ethnicity are also intertwined with geographic dif- Abbreviations as in Table 2. Abbreviations as in Table 2.…”