3 ms·

I certainly see and empathize where you are coming from. However, I would like to add that it kind of makes sense that you’d have more white people with scans

I certainly see and empathize where you are coming from. However, I would like to add that it kind of makes sense that you’d have more white people with scans available. Focusing on the USA for a second (and note that this likely applies elsewhere too, since screening programs are really only in full force in developed countries which, surprise surprise, are predominantly white). Non white patients don’t get screened as much. Non white patients don’t go to the doctor as much. Non white patients are inherently fewer than white patients. I agree that finding a good way to get anonymized data is going to help in future endeavors, but we do need to keep in context the players involved in getting and using that data. And of course the ultimate goal, to improve health regardless of race, social class, wealth, etc.

jsinai 6y ago
> Non white patients are inherently fewer than white patients Look at global population statistics. While there are no official global figures for ethnicity, we can make some simple inferences based on continental distribution [1]: North America + Europe combined (17.19%) is barely as much as Africa (17.2%), and this is ignoring the fact that a good part of the North American population is non-white. There is nothing "inherent" about there being less non-white patients. The issue is inbalanced access to health care and screening programmes, but that is not inherent. This is without even mentioning that Asia accounts for almost 60% of the global population. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_the_world#2020_population_distribution https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_the_world#2020...
- epmaybe 6y ago
  I think I am agreeing with you, based on your comment on imbalanced access to healthcare and screening programs. I’m saying the same thing in that data collection for ct scans is really only happening in countries that are predominantly white, not that it isn’t possible for other countries to implement programs and collect that data for training purposes. Edit: unless of course you have found large databases that suggest my intuition is wrong?

jsinai 6y ago

> Non white patients are inherently fewer than white patients Look at global population statistics. While there are no official global figures for ethnicity, we can make some simple inferences based on continental distribution [1]: North America + Europe combined (17.19%) is barely as much as Africa (17.2%), and this is ignoring the fact that a good part of the North American population is non-white. There is nothing "inherent" about there being less non-white patients. The issue is inbalanced access to health care and screening programmes, but that is not inherent. This is without even mentioning that Asia accounts for almost 60% of the global population. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_the_world#2020_population_distribution https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_the_world#2020...

epmaybe 6y ago
I think I am agreeing with you, based on your comment on imbalanced access to healthcare and screening programs. I’m saying the same thing in that data collection for ct scans is really only happening in countries that are predominantly white, not that it isn’t possible for other countries to implement programs and collect that data for training purposes. Edit: unless of course you have found large databases that suggest my intuition is wrong?