Race matters: a systematic review of racial/ethnic disparity in Society for Assisted Reproductive Technology reported outcomes.

OBJECTIVE

To systematically review the reporting of race/ethnicity in Society for Assisted Reproductive Technology (SART) Clinic Outcome Reporting System (CORS) publications.

DESIGN

Systematic review using Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) methodology of literature published in PubMed on race/ethnicity that includes data from SART CORS.

SETTING

Not applicable.

PATIENT(S): Not applicable.

INTERVENTION(S): In vitro fertilization cycles reported to SART.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S): Any outcomes reported in SART CORS.

RESULT(S): Seven publications were identified that assessed racial/ethnic disparities in IVF outcomes using SART data. All reported a racial/ethnic disparity. However, more than 35% of cycles were excluded from analysis because of missing race/ethnicity data.

CONCLUSION(S): Review of current publications of SART data suggests significant racial/ethnic disparities in IVF outcomes. However, the potential for selection bias limits confidence in these findings, given that fewer than 65% of SART reported cycles include race/ethnicity. Our understanding of how race/ethnicity influences ART outcome could be greatly improved if information on race/ethnicity was available for all reported cycles.