Does race/ethnicity really matter in adult neurogenics?
OBJECTIVE
Recent evidence suggests that race/ethnicity is a variable that is critical to outcomes in neurological disorders. The purpose of this article was to examine the proportion of studies published in the American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology (AJSLP) and the Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research (JSLHR) that were designed to examine neurologically based disorders of communication in adults and that reported the race/ethnicity of the participants.


METHODS
A review of articles in AJSLP and JSLHR from 1997 through 2007 was completed to determine what proportion of articles in the area of adult neurogenic communication disorders reported the race/ethnicity of the participants.


RESULTS
Between 1997 and 2007, less than 15% of the 116 articles published in the 2 journals reported the race/ethnicity of the participants. The review of studies indicates that the reporting of the race/ethnicity of participants in studies of adult neurogenic communication disorders remains inconsistent.


CONCLUSIONS
Because few studies report race/ethnicity or consider how race/ethnicity has the potential to confound the results and conclusions drawn, the generalization of the reported findings may be limited. Reporting race/ethnicity is likely critical to the external validity of studies in adult neurogenic communication disorders and when available can enhance the relevance of the findings reported.
Ellis
Charles
C
Medical University of South Carolina, College of Health Professions, Department of Health Professions, Charleston, SC 29425, USA. ellisc@musc.edu