Ethnic minorities: key data sources

Information about the health of minority ethnic groups in Scotland is limited, particularly from routine health service sources. The following indicate some potential sources of information.

Hospital discharge and outpatient data

Information on hospital inpatient and daycase discharges in Scotland are collected in the SMR01 database; the corresponding database for outpatient attendances is the SMR00 database. For Scotland as a whole, the recording of ethnicity is improving but is still relatively low: a valid ethnic group code was recorded in only 64% of inpatient and daycase records (SMR01) and only 44% of new outpatient appointment records (SMR00) in the quarter ending September 2011. NHS Boards then reaching 50% completeness for inpatients included Golden Jubilee National Hospital (GJNH), Lanarkshire, Dumfries and Galloway,  Lothian, Grampian, Tayside, Greater Glasgow & Clyde, Shetland, and Borders. However, a few Boards remained below the 50% threshold, and Ayrshire and Arran figures were not reported by ISD owing to the possible effects of the implementation of a new IT system. For outpatients, GJNH, Lanarkshire, Lothian, and Dumfries and Galloway were above 50% completeness by September 2011.

Recent information on data completeness is available from ISD.

Census information

The 2001 Census provides information on self-assessed health among minority ethnic groups in Scotland. Further details from the Census are available in two reports produced by the Scottish Executive: Analysis of ethnicity in the 2001 Census and Analysis of religion in the 2001 Census. In July 2008 the Scottish Government announced a new ethnicity classification which was used for Scotland's 2011 Census and is recommended for use in all relevant Scottish Official Statistics.

Survey data

A number of periodic or ongoing surveys with national coverage have the potential to provide information about the health of minority ethnic groups. However, in many cases the numbers of people from minority ethnic groups included in the survey are too small to produce reliable information.

Linkage work

The retrospective coding project, Ethnicity and health in Scotland: can we fill the information gap?(468Kb), has linked Census data to routine hospital discharge data, providing information about coronary heart disease among minority ethnic groups in Scotland. A second phase is now extending the work to cover cancer, mental health and the health of women and children.

Specialist databases

In Scotland, information on ethnic group is severely incomplete both in primary care and in hospital discharge and cancer registration data. Ethnic group is recorded in some specialised databases, but not all use standardised definitions of ethnic group.

Data standards

Classifications of ethnic group based on the 2001 Census are included in the Scottish Health and social care data dictionary. Note that this will be superseded by the new ethnicity classification (211Kb) introduced for official statistics in Scotland.

Research

Netto and colleagues (2001) have carried out an Audit of research on minority ethnic issues in Scotland from a race perspective.

The Scottish Health and Ethnicity Research Strategy Steering group(SHERSS) was set up in December 2010 as recommended by the Health in Our Multi-ethnic Scotland report . SHERSS made its first annual report (87Kb)in December 2011.

Diabetes

The former National Resource Centre for Ethnic Minority Health (NRCEMH) and the Scottish Diabetes Group produced a report on diabetes in minorities ethnic groups which was also published by Baradaran and colleagues (key references). It includes data from a survey of diabetes service users in Glasgow and describes the pattern of services in Scotland. It makes recommendations about improving the quality of care for people with diabetes from minority ethnic groups in Scotland.

Comparative data for England and Wales

Data sources on the health of minority ethnic groups in England and Wales are much more extensive and may be useful as a general guide to the likely issues in Scotland. A comprehensive review of data from England and Wales has been published by Gill et al (see key references).