title: Assessing the role of race in quantitative measures of skin pigmentation and clinical assessments of photosensitivity.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Given the increasing demographic diversity in the United States, clarifying relationships between race, color, ethnicity, and disease processes is critical.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  We sought to examine the correlation between objective measures of skin pigmentation, racial identification, and physician-diagnosed and self-reported skin phototypes.
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 558 participants (76 nonwhite) were evaluated. A subset underwent spectrometric readings and digital photography of the upper aspect of the inner arm. Self-identified race was compared with 7 measures of pigmentation.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Race correlates best with physician-diagnosed skin phototype (r = 0.55, P < .01), whereas self-reported skin phototype, spectrometry, and colorimetry correlate poorly with race (r = 0.28, < 0.40, and r > -0.31, respectively, P < .01). Associations between race and subjective measures strengthen among patients with darker skin.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Objective measures of pigmentation fail to correlate well with race, whereas race correlates moderately with physician-diagnosed skin phototype. Including objective methods of analyzing skin color may reduce subjective influences of race in assessing photosensitivity and potential risk for skin cancer.
authors.affiliation: Department of Dermatology, Stanford University Medical Center, Stanford, California, USA.
authors.forename: Joanna L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Chan
authors.forename: Alison
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ehrlich
authors.forename: Reva C
authors.initials: RC
authors.lastname: Lawrence
authors.forename: Alan N
authors.initials: AN
authors.lastname: Moshell
authors.forename: Maria L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Turner
authors.forename: Alexa Boer
authors.initials: AB
authors.lastname: Kimball
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010787:Photosensitivity Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis*; D044469:Racial Groups; D012880:Skin Pigmentation