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. 2022 May;35(3):130-134.
doi: 10.1177/08404704221077189. Epub 2022 Apr 7.

Race-based data collection among COVID-19 inpatients: A retrospective chart review

Clara Lu  1   2 , Achieng Tago  1   2 , Oluwatobi Olaiya  1 , Madeleine Verhovsek  1
Affiliations

Race-based data collection among COVID-19 inpatients: A retrospective chart review

Clara Lu et al. Healthc Manage Forum. 2022 May.

Abstract

Public health data have demonstrated disproportionate COVID-19 morbidity and mortality among racialized populations. However, limited hospital data may prevent research into racial disproportionality among inpatients. We conducted a retrospective cross-sectional study of patients admitted with or without COVID-19 to an Ontario tertiary hospital between March and October 2020 to determine the percentage of inpatients with a formal race or ethnicity assessment in their medical record. The COVID-19 group included inpatients with concurrent COVID-19 positivity; the reference group included a random sample of General Medicine inpatients without COVID-19. We reviewed 80 patients with COVID-19 and 80 patients without COVID-19. Formal ethnicity assessments were recorded among 44% of the COVID-19 group and 49% of the reference group. Race and ethnicity data collection was less than 50% among inpatients with and without COVID-19 in one Ontario hospital. Adequate data collection is necessary to study racial health disparities in the hospital setting.

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