Caldwell S H, Popenoe R
University of Virginia, Charlottesville.
Ann Intern Med. 1995 Apr 15;122(8):614-7. doi: 10.7326/0003-4819-122-8-199504150-00010.
Case presentations are part of many clinicians' daily routines. The format for such presentations often involves stating the age, sex, and race of the patient in the opening description. However, although single-word racial labels such as "black" or "white" are of occasional help to the clinician, they are of limited diagnostic and therapeutic help in many routine cases. Because of their broad scope and lack of scientific clarity, these terms often poorly represent information--for example, about genetic risks and perceptions of disease--that they are supposed to convey. In many instances, they are superficial and potentially misleading terms that fail to serve the patient's medical needs. Demoting these terms from the opening line of routine case presentations shows a recognition of their limitations as scientific labels. Our patients will be better served by more detailed explorations of ethnicity, when germane, in the History of Present Illness or Social History sections of the case presentation in question.
病例报告是许多临床医生日常工作的一部分。此类报告的形式通常包括在开头描述中说明患者的年龄、性别和种族。然而，尽管像“黑人”或“白人”这样的单字种族标签偶尔对临床医生有帮助，但在许多常规病例中，它们在诊断和治疗方面的帮助有限。由于这些术语范围广泛且缺乏科学清晰度，它们往往不能很好地传达本应传达的信息，例如关于遗传风险和疾病认知的信息。在许多情况下，它们是肤浅且可能具有误导性的术语，无法满足患者的医疗需求。将这些术语从常规病例报告的开头部分移除，表明认识到它们作为科学标签的局限性。在相关病例报告的现病史或社会史部分，若适用，对种族进行更详细的探究，将能更好地服务我们的患者。
