United States: A recently conducted research study shows racial differences affect how fast doctors identify and diagnose childhood asthma cases.
Prior research containing incorrect findings established white children had superior lung capacity than other races according to scientists, as reported by HealthDay.
The incorrect assumption has led diagnostic procedures to miss numerous asthma diagnoses in Black children according to research published Feb. 28 in JAMA Open Network.
Doctors who use updated formulas that drop racial considerations detect asthma symptoms and reduced lung function as much as four times higher among Black children than among white children according to research findings.
Key Findings
“These findings have significant clinical implications and further support the universal use of race-neutral equations to increase the likelihood of identifying reduced lung function and improving the detection of asthma, particularly in Black children, promoting health equity,” the research team led by Dr. Gurjit Khurana Hershey, director of asthma research at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital, concluded.
Diagnostic testing by spirometry requires lung function testing through an embedded calculation in U.S. spirometers according to researchers in background reports. U.S. spirometers calculate diagnosis through proven mathematical standards based on age and sex along with body measurements and racial identity.
The racial factor in the test calculation enhanced lung function measurements by 10% to 15% for Black individuals and 4% to 6% for Asian test-takers, according to research findings.
Medical Community Slow to Adopt New Standards
The Global Lung Initiative Network modified lung function reference equations in 2022 by removing racial identification from their mathematical calculations.
Doctors along with hospitals and with health networks, have failed to implement the new race-neutral calculation across their operations according to researchers.
The study team assessed lung function data from 1,500 children in three earlier experimental studies.
When researchers applied race-neutral lung function calculations instead of race-specific ones, 39% of Black children showed a reduction in their lung function quality, according to research findings.
Advancing Health Equity in Asthma Care
According to research, the race-neutral formula identified 44% of children who did not qualify for asthma testing before the change in methodology, while the former approach identified 38% of affected patients.
The race-neutral equation maintained the same assessment results for white children according to study authors.
“The use of a race-neutral equation promotes the identification of deficits in lung function that the race-specific equation fails to detect, particularly in Black children,” researchers concluded in their report, as reported by HealthDay.
“A shift to universal use of the race-neutral equation will likely improve the detection of asthma, decrease the risk of labeling uncontrolled asthma as controlled, and keep moving science away from outdated racist practices and toward alleviating asthma-related health disparities, promoting health equality,” researchers concluded.