Should Race Be Used as a Variable in Research on Preterm Birth?
Should Race Be Used as a Variable in Research on Preterm Birth?
复制标题
DOI：
10.1001/journalofethics.2018.20.3.sect1-1803
复制
发表时间：
2018-03-01
影响因子：
--
通讯作者：
Doll, Kemi M
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Eichelberger, Kacey Y;Alson, Julianna G;Doll, Kemi M
早产（PTB）结局的种族差异得到了很好的描述，但连接种族和PTB的因果机制还没有。在临床研究中，种族通常被视为代表固定的生物特征。在现实中，种族是一种社会结构，它近似于历史上和正在进行的系统性歧视的生活经历，在PTB的情况下，是黑人妇女和生殖的特殊压力源。这些经历体现为对多代人健康的不利影响。因此，种族问题给研究人员提出了一个难题。将种族与遗传混为一谈会造成伤害，但排除种族变量会产生不相关的研究。相反，我们必须在生态社会背景下考虑种族问题。PTB是扩大研究方法的沃土，以尊重美国种族的历史，现实和影响。
Racial variations in preterm birth (PTB) outcomes are well described, but causal mechanisms linking race and PTB are not. In clinical research, race is typically treated as representing fixed biological traits. In reality, race is a social construct that approximates lived experiences of historical and ongoing systematic discrimination and, in the case of PTB, particular stressors of black womanhood and reproduction. These experiences are embodied as adverse multigenerational health outcomes. Race thus presents a dilemma for researchers. Conflating race with genetics enacts harm, but excluding the race variable produces irrelevant research. Instead, we must consider race in an ecosocial context. PTB is fertile ground for expanding research approaches to respect the history, reality, and implications of race in the United States.