Abstract
Purpose Health researchers often need to identify persons of certain ethnic groups to address the health issues of these populations. Using surnames for ethnic identification has been reported in the literature as a possible approach. In this study, we developed a surname list that takes into account differences in country of migration and variations in spelling to identify a sampling frame for a population-based health survey. Methods Surnames on records where the ethnicity variable was marked as Chinese were extracted from the Massachusetts birth and death files from1989 to 1997. Each of the extracted surnames was then evaluated to determine its positive predictive value (PPV): the percent of records with that surname that indicated Chinese ethnicity. Different surname lists were then compiled based on increasing PPV cutoff points. The sensitivity and specificity of each of these surname lists were then calculated. A surname list with optimum combination of sensitivity and specificity was chosen to identify all matching listings in the most current telephone directories for nine Massachusetts cities found to have the highest concentrations of residents of Chinese ancestry. From the matched listings, a sample of 1200 telephone numbers was randomly selected. These 1200 were then randomly assigned to participate in either a telephone version (600) or a mailed version (600) of a tobacco survey. All potential respondents were asked to complete the survey, regardless of their ethnicity. Results A surname list with sensitivity of 66% and specificity of 93% was chosen. About 48% responded to the mail survey and 46% to the telephone survey. About 92% of the respondents reported that they were of Chinese ancestry. Conclusion State birth and death registry records can be used to construct Chinese surname lists that reflect variations in spelling and waves of immigration from diverse areas where different surnames may be prevalent. This approach can be used to create surname lists to match existing files to obtain appropriate sampling frames for health studies.
Published Version
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