Issues of Racism in Healthcare Research
http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/449340_8
Nursing Research
Kendall J, Hatton D. Racism as a source of health disparity in
families with children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.
Advances in Nursing Science. 2002;25:22-39.
Decreasing health disparities and improving health services for
minority and at-risk populations is one of the goals of the Department
of Health and Human Services (DHHS) Healthy People 2010
initiative. However, the racism imbedded within American society, as
evident through differences in areas such as socioeconomic status,
living conditions, and educational opportunity, may be inadequately
addressed in both medical and nursing research. One example is the
disparity in diagnosis and treatment of attention deficit/hyperactivity
disorder (ADHD). A behavioral problem that can significantly affect
academic achievement and social conduct, ADHD is believed to affect
between 3% to 6% of children and adolescents in the United States.
However, prevalence rates among minority populations have not been
established. One study reported that 58% of youths in the Maryland
Medicaid system receiving Ritalin, the most common treatment for
ADHD, were African American. However, minority children have been
underrepresented in ADHD studies, and research involving primarily white
children may not be generalizable to minorities. In addition, behavioral
problems in African American boys are more often viewed as the result of
living conditions, poor parenting, violence, or lower IQ, without
exploring a condition such as ADHD as a root cause. This may contribute
to lower academic achievement and more frequent involvement with the
juvenile justice system for African American boys. In all aspects of
healthcare research, a greater inclusion of a heterogeneous sample is
needed to better identify problems and study the effectiveness of
interventions.
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