Racial Misclassification of American Indians: Its Effect on Injury Rates in Oregon, 1989 through 1990
Authors: Jonathan R Sugarman, MD, Robert Soderbeig, Jane E. Gordon,, Frederick P. Rivara
Publication Year: 1993
Last Updated: 2019-09-30 12:59:01
Journal: American Journal of Public Health
Keywords: racial misclassification, injury rates, AI/AN disease surveillance, vital records, IHS linkage
Short Abstract:
To our knowledge, the extent to which
American Indian injury rates are underestimated
owing to racial misclassification is
unknown.
To examine this question, we conducted
a study that linked the Oregon Injury
Registry with a patient registration file
of American Indian Oregon residents registered
with the Indian Health Service
(IHS). In addition, we examined selected
risk factors that might be associated with
the likelihood of discordant racial classification
between the two data sets.
The Oregon Injury Registry is a population-
based surveillance system for injuries
resulting either in death or in hospital
admission for at least 1 calendar day. The Portland Area
IHS maintains a computer file of Oregon
residents who have registered for services
with it. To examine how inconsistent racial
classification between the two data sets
affected estimated injury rates among
American Indians, we calculated age-adjusted
rates of injury using three methods.
Abstract:
The Oregon Injury Registry is a population-
based surveillance system for injuries
resulting either in death or in hospital
admission for at least 1 calendar day. The Portland Area
IHS maintains a computer file of Oregon
residents who have registered for services
with it. To examine how inconsistent racial
classification between the two data sets
affected estimated injury rates among
American Indians, we calculated age-adjusted
rates of injury using three methods.
In 1989 and 1990, 301 entries (hospital
admissions or fatalities) in the Oregon Injury
Registry were coded as American Indian.
Of these, 133 (44.2%) were not
matched to the IHS patient registration
file. An additional 89 persons who were
coded as a race other than American Indian
on the registry were linked to the IHS
file. Two cases coded as American Indian
in the registry were listed as non-American
Indian in the IHS file. Thus, the number
of cases in the registry that were identified
as American Indian in at least one of
the data sets increased by 29.6% (n = 390)
after the data linkage.
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