The Public Endorses Collection of Ethnicity Information in Hospital: Implications for Routine Data Capture in Canadian Health Systems

Abstract

A telephone survey was conducted in Calgary, Alberta to assess public opinion on collection of ethnicity information in hospitals. Of the 2,799 respondents, 84.8% felt comfortable about recording their ethnicity in hospital charts. This rate held across respondents' age, marital status and ethnic origin. These findings suggest that Canadian health systems should explore the feasibility and ethical suitability of collecting ethnicity data, as this information could contribute to the evaluation and subsequent reduction of ethnic disparities in health and health services access. RésuméUn sondage par téléphone a été mené à Calgary, en Alberta, afin d' évaluer l' opinion publique relativement à la collecte de renseignements sur l' origine ethnique dans les hôpitaux. Des 2 799 répondants, 84,8 p. cent ont dit ne pas avoir d' objection à ce que leur origine ethnique soit inscrite dans leur dossier de patient. Ce pourcentage s' est maintenu chez tous les répondants, quel que soit leur âge, leur état civil et leur origine ethnique. Ces résultats suggèrent que les responsables des systèmes de santé canadiens devraient explorer la faisabilité et le bien-fondé éthique de la collecte de renseignements sur l' origine ethnique, puisque de tels renseignements pourraient aider à évaluer et, subséquemment, à réduire les disparités ethniques dans l' accès aux soins et aux services de santé.

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The Prognostic Significance of c-MET and EGFR Overexpression in Resected Gastric Adenocarcinomas

“…Also, ethnicity, race, and sociodemographic information are not routinely collected in the Canadian medical institutions, although this might change in the future with a strong educational campaign, 83 at least in some provinces. 84 Strengths of the study include exceptionally long followup and prognostic information based on a representatively treated cohort of Canadian GC patients.…”

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“…Administrative hospital data may offer some solutions since it is routinely collected and stored at provincial level. Unfortunately, neither ethnicity nor language variable that can be used to define population subgroups is collected in these administrative data sources [9]. This limits their use for studies involving ELB populations.…”

“…This limits their use for studies involving ELB populations. In a study in Calgary, the participants endorsed collection of ethnicity data in hospitals [9]. Yet, the findings have not been put in practice.…”