The need for improved collection and coding of ethnicity in health research

Coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) has exposed the need for improved collection and coding of ethnicity, despite years of debate on the issue.1,2 A review found only 7% of Covid-19 research papers and surveillance reports presented ethnicity-disaggregated data.3 Complete, detailed and accurate ethnicity data are required for clinicians, researchers and policy makers to further examine outcomes and their causes, and manage healthcare needs related to Covid-19 in ethnic minority populations.

The completeness of ethnicity data within healthcare and routine databases has been poor historically. For example, only 27% of patients in Clinical Practice Research Datalink had ethnicity recorded between 1990 and 2012....