Hahn R A, Truman B I, Barker N D
Epidemiology Program Office, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA 30333, USA.
Epidemiology. 1996 Jan;7(1):75-80. doi: 10.1097/00001648-199601000-00013.
We examined consistency in the classification of ancestry by self, proxy, interviewer, and funeral director (on a death certificate) in a sample of the U.S. population--the First National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey and Epidemiologic Follow-up. Among study subjects for whom comparable ethnic identity options were available at both interviews, 58% of subjects specified the same identity at two times. Persons who specified four different ethnic backgrounds were 3.4 times as likely to change their identity over time as persons specifying only one background. Self-classification of ancestry at initial interview was consistent with proxy reports at follow-up for 55% of subjects for whom proxy information was available. Comparison of the self-classification of ancestry with the classification of race by interviewers and by funeral directors indicates high consistency for Whites and Blacks and low consistency for American Indians. The "measurement" of ancestry (that is, race or ethnicity) is critical to the understanding and elimination of differences in health status among racial/ethnic populations, but the low reliability of these measures over time and across observers complicates the analysis and interpretation of health statistics by ancestry, particularly for populations other than White or Black.
我们在美国人群样本——第一次全国健康与营养检查调查及流行病学随访中，研究了自我、代理人、访谈员以及丧葬承办人（在死亡证明上）对血统分类的一致性。在两次访谈中都有可比种族身份选项的研究对象中，58%的研究对象两次都指定了相同的身份。指定四种不同种族背景的人随时间改变身份的可能性是仅指定一种背景的人的3.4倍。在初次访谈时自我对血统的分类与随访时代理人报告的一致性，在有代理人信息的研究对象中为55%。将血统的自我分类与访谈员和丧葬承办人对种族的分类相比较，结果表明白人和黑人的一致性较高，而美洲印第安人的一致性较低。血统（即种族或族裔）的“测量”对于理解和消除种族/族裔人群健康状况差异至关重要，但这些测量方法随时间推移和不同观察者的可靠性较低，这使得按血统对健康统计数据进行分析和解释变得复杂，尤其是对于非白人或黑人人群。
