Introduction
Health inequities are a significant concern in critical care, often exacerbated by inadequately captured sociodemographic risks in research. The absence of standardized tools and definitions for collecting patient data hinders our ability to understand and address these disparities effectively. To overcome this challenge, a comprehensive resource of standardized questions and response options has been developed, aiming to streamline the collection of sociodemographic variables in critical care research and ultimately promote more equitable healthcare.
Methods and Findings
To establish a robust framework, researchers conducted an extensive search across various sources to identify key domains and variables impacting health equity. This included a review of critical care randomized trials from PubMed (2010-2021), high-impact journal publications focusing on equity in critical and general medicine, and resources from governmental and non-governmental organizations.
This rigorous investigation led to the identification of 23 critical domains relevant to health equity. These encompass a wide spectrum of sociodemographic factors, starting from personal identifiers such as pronouns, age, sex, gender identity, and sexual orientation, to broader societal determinants like race and ethnicity, visible minority status, language, and socioeconomic indicators including household income, education, and employment. The scope further extends to crucial aspects of social support and access to resources, covering marital/relationship status, disabilities, immigrant and refugee status, primary care access, health insurance coverage, internet access, housing and food security, dependents, religious affiliation, and even postal code as a proxy for geographic and socioeconomic context.
For each of these 23 domains, the research team meticulously developed standardized questions and corresponding response options. Recognizing the diverse needs of researchers and study designs, for 13 of these domains, multiple versions of questions and response categories were provided, offering flexibility while maintaining standardization.
Conclusion
This newly developed standardized demographic data collection tool represents a significant advancement for critical care research. By providing researchers with practical, convenient, and adaptable questions and response options, this tool facilitates the consistent and comprehensive collection of sociodemographic data. Its implementation in research studies will contribute to a more nuanced understanding of health inequities in critical care, paving the way for targeted interventions and ultimately fostering more equitable and effective healthcare delivery for all patient populations.
