Towards a Race-Neutral System of Pulmonary Function Test Results Interpretation.

It has been observed widely that, on average, Black individuals in the United States have lower FVC than White individuals, which is thought to reflect a combination of genetic, environmental, and socioeconomic factors that are difficult to disentangle. Debate therefore persists even after the American Thoracic Society's 2023 guidelines recommending race-neutral pulmonary function test (PFT) result interpretation strategies. Advocates of race-based PFT results interpretation argue that it allows for more precise measurement and will minimize disease misclassification. In contrast, recent studies have shown that low lung function in Black patients has clinical consequences. Furthermore, the use of race-based algorithms in medicine in general is increasingly being questioned for its risk of perpetuating structural health care disparities. Given these concerns, we believe it is time to adopt a race-neutral approach, but note that more research is urgently needed to understand how race-neutral approaches impact PFT results interpretation, clinical decision-making, and patient outcomes. In this brief case-based discussion, we offer a few examples of how a race-neutral PFT results interpretation strategy will impact individuals from racial and ethnic minority groups at different scenarios and stages of life.

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Copyright © 2023 American College of Chest Physicians. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Déclaration de conflit d'intérêts

Financial/Nonfinancial Disclosures The authors have reported to CHEST the following: A. B., A. A., and M. C. have received National Institutes of Health (NIH) funding for their general research programs (NIH 3U01HL146002 - 04W1 to A. B; NIH K23HL146942 to A. A.; NIH T32 HL066988 to M. C., for the training program at Rochester).None declared (D. C., K. P., M. C. M., S. N. G.).