Performance of obstetric comorbidity indices within race/ethnicity categories

Abstract

I read with great interest the article by Tangel et al. who studied the performance and calibration of existing obstetric comorbidity adjustment indices within race/ethnicity categories. 1 Tangel V.E. Bryant-Huppert J. Jiang S.Y. et al. Comparative performance of obstetric comorbidity indices within categories of race and ethnicity: an external validation study. Int J Obstet Anesth. 2022; 103543https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijoa.2022.103543 Abstract Full Text Full Text PDF Scopus (2) Google Scholar I salute the authors on this important and insightful research, and would like to highlight several points. Comparative performance of obstetric comorbidity indices within categories of race and ethnicity: an external validation studyInternational Journal of Obstetric AnesthesiaVol. 50PreviewReported maternal in the United States of America (USA) has risen steadily since the implementation of standardized mortality surveillance, from 7.2 deaths per 100 000 live births in 1987 to 17.3 in 2017,1 with a further increase to 20.1 deaths per 100 000 live births in 2019.2 Black women have the highest rate of maternal mortality of any racial or ethnic group in the USA.2–4 Full-Text PDF In reply: Performance of obstetric comorbidity indices within race/ethnicity categoriesInternational Journal of Obstetric AnesthesiaVol. 51PreviewWe thank Raveh1 for their interest in our article and for their comments. The goal of our study was to validate existing comorbidity indices within homogeneous categories of race and ethnicity. These categories are uniformly coded based on definitions from the United States (US) Office of Management and Budget.2 While a conversation regarding how race and ethnicity are defined (and how they are collected for documentation in the medical record) is indeed valuable, it is beyond the scope of this external validation study. Full-Text PDF