Get started
Work

Improving the Collection of National Health Data: The Case for the Middle Eastern and North African Checkbox in the United States

Year: 2023
Type: preprint
Abstract: On June 15, 2022, the Chief Statistician of the United States announced that the Office of Management and Budget would conduct a formal review of the current minimum standards for collecting race/ethnicity data on the US Census and other federal forms. This review is extremely important for communities that have been overlooked and unable to receive federal funding for their programs, most notably Middle Eastern and North African (MENA) Americans. MENA individuals are defined as “White” in the US, which is particularly concerning given that research continues to identify that their health behaviors, disabilities, health conditions, mortality and lived experiences differ from Whites. The initial OMB proposals were published in January 2023 with a request for public comment for up to 75 days. Specifically, the OMB is requesting comments on a separate MENA checkbox. The purpose of this study was to summarize the initial comments posted on the federal registrar’s website during February 2023. Comments were reviewed to determine whether MENA was mentioned, whether comments indicated support for the MENA checkbox, and whether comments mentioned support for reasons related to health. There were 2,950 comments reviewed. Most (71.76%) mentioned the inclusion of a MENA checkbox. Of those, 98.82% were in support of adding the MENA checkbox. Among those, 31.98% mentioned the need for a MENA checkbox to improve data collection for health-related topics. These findings are encouraging and indicate strong support for including a MENA checkbox on the next US Census and other federal forms.
DOI: 10.21203/rs.3.rs-2790994/v1
Language: English
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W4362731761
Cites: 13
Cited by: 3
Related to: 10