title: Diagnostic accuracy of self-reported racial composition of residential neighborhood.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To examine the diagnostic accuracy of self-reported measures of individuals' perceptions of the racial and ethnic composition of their communities with objective data (i.e., census) as the criterion standard and assess differences in concordance in subjective and objective measures of segregation by race and ethnicity.
  
  
  METHODS
  We examined data from 943 adult community health center visitors in Suffolk County, New York to assess differences between self-reported racial composition of current neighborhood and 2010 U.S. Census data. A cross-sectional convenience sample was obtained; questionnaires were used to compare participant responses about the racial composition of their current neighborhood and their town of residence.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Respondents who self-identified as white were more likely to self-report racial composition of their neighborhood consistent with 2010 Census estimates. Relative to census estimates, 93.1% of blacks overestimated the proportion of their current neighborhood that was black, and 69.8% of Hispanics overestimated the proportion that was Hispanic.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  There were statistically significant differences between the participants' self-reported neighborhood racial composition and census data across race and ethnicity groups. Future studies are needed to validate self-reported measures of individuals' perceptions of the racial and ethnic composition of their communities to examine the association between individual segregation experience and health.
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology, Ryals School of Public Health, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham. Electronic address: bhidalgo@uab.edu.
authors.forename: Bertha
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Hidalgo
authors.affiliation: Department of Communication, Huntsman Cancer Institute, The University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT.
authors.forename: Kimberly A
authors.initials: KA
authors.lastname: Kaphingst
authors.affiliation: Division of Public Health Sciences, Department of Surgery, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO.
authors.forename: Jewel
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Stafford
authors.affiliation: Office of Population Affairs, Health and Human Services, Washington, DC.
authors.forename: Christina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Lachance
authors.affiliation: Division of Public Health Sciences, Department of Surgery, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO.
authors.forename: Melody S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Goodman
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001741:Black or African American / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D044383:Black People / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D059026:Diagnostic Self Evaluation; D005006:Ethnicity / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D006630:Hispanic or Latino / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009518:New York / Q000453:epidemiology; D063505:Racism / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012111:Residence Characteristics; D057566:Self Report; D012931:Social Environment; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D044465:White People / Q000706:statistics & numerical data
keywords: Diagnostic accuracy; Neighborhood racial composition; Racial segregation