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RESEARCH AND PRACTICE: H. Joanna Jiang, Roxanne Andrews, Daniel Stryer, and Bernard Friedman Racial/Ethnic Disparities in Potentially Preventable Readmissions: The Case of Diabetes Am J Public Health 2005; 95: 1561-1567 [Abstract] [Full text] [PDF]

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An unmentioned limitation

Jessica M. Robbins   (13 October 2005)

An unmentioned limitation 13 October 2005
Jessica M. Robbins, Public Health Epidemiologist Philadelphia Department of Public Health Send letter to journal: Re: An unmentioned limitation jessica.robbins{at}phila.gov Jessica M. Robbins	Jiang, et al., have contributed a useful secondary analysis of data from the 1999 Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project (HCUP). However, an analysis focussed on racial/ethnic disparities should give some description of how race/ethnicity has been ascertained. There are significant problems with this variable in hospital discharge data such as those included in the HCUP, not the least of which is that the variable is missing in approximately 20% of the records. Some discussion of the possible effect of the (apparent) exclusion of these records would be appropriate.