Assessing Race, Ethnicity and Gender in Health

Where there are patients, clients, or study participants, there are data. And when data involve personal variables of race, ethnicity, gender, and/or sexual orientation, questions of relevance and marginalization often arise. Assessing Race, Ethnicity, and Gender in Health Research brings needed clarity to the debate by identifying the ethical issues as well as the technical challenges inherent in measuring these elusive concepts.

Sana Loue expands on her work begun in Gender, Ethnicity, and Health Research by paralleling the evolution of racial and sexual categories with the development of health research. Her review of the literature clearly explains when and why the use of classification systems may be both clinically and morally appropriate. In addition, Loue provides a salient guide to assessment tools currently used in measuring racial and sexual constructs, identity, and experience.

- Overview of categories in their sociopolitical context

- Self-definition vs. definition by others: methodological considerations

- Review of the overlapping roles of race, ethnicity, and sexual orientation in health, health care, and health care disparities

- Selected measures for assessing ethnicity, ethnic identification, and levels of acculturation

- Suggested dimensions for assessing sexual orientation

- Current diagnostic criteria for gender identity disorder

Given the prevalence of ethnic- and gender-based data collection throughout the health and mental health fields, this book’s usefulness is not limited to the research community. Physicians, therapists, social workers, and sociologists will find this clear-minded volume an important source of instruments - and insights.

"The author is to be especially commended for bringing together a number of resources for improving health and health care research. One chapter draws on published studies on topics such as diabetes and breast cancer to assess whether the variables of race, ethnicity, and sex used were sufficient to warrant the conclusions. Another chapter identifies several instruments designed by experts to capture the racial, ethnic, and gender diversity in a population under study. Throughout, hundreds of relevant references are provided."

Marian E. Gornick, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (Retired), Baltimore, MD (The New England Journal of Medicine, 356:12, 2007)

Sana Loue, J.D., Ph.D., MPH, has authored/edited about a dozen books on sexuality, epidemiology, rural and ethnic health and is a renowned figure in the subject of immigrant and minority health. Dr. Loue is currently the Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Immigrant and Minority Health. She has done research on HIV Prevention, Knowledge and Assessment,  Immigration and Women's Health. She is currently at work on a new encyclopedia on aging in addition to a case studies textbook on ethics & HIV and is a member of the American Immigration Lawyers Association, American Public Health Association, and Society for Behavioral Medicine.