Racial categories in medical practice: how useful are they?

Lundy Braun; Anne Fausto-Sterling; Duana Fullwiley; Evelynn M Hammonds; Alondra Nelson; William Quivers; Susan M Reverby; Alexandra E Shields

doi:10.1371/journal.pmed.0040271

Racial categories in medical practice: how useful are they?

PLoS Med. 2007 Sep;4(9):e271. doi: 10.1371/journal.pmed.0040271.

Authors

Lundy Braun¹, Anne Fausto-Sterling, Duana Fullwiley, Evelynn M Hammonds, Alondra Nelson, William Quivers, Susan M Reverby, Alexandra E Shields

Affiliation

¹ Departments of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine and Africana Studies, Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island, USA.

Abstract

Is it good medical practice for physicians to "eyeball" a patient's race when assessing their medical status or even to ask them to identify their race?

Publication types

Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Humans
Patient Care / methods*
Physician's Role
Professional Practice*
Racial Groups / ethnology*
Racial Groups / genetics

Grants and funding

P20 HG003400/HG/NHGRI NIH HHS/United States