Ethnicity has overtaken race in medical science: MEDLINE-based comparison of trends in the USA and the rest of the world, 1965-2005

Ethnicity and race are among the most commonly\udused epidemiological variables, closely following age,\udsex and social class. Relative increase in the use of the\udterm ‘ethnicity’ rather than ‘race’ in the health literature\udfrom 1966 to 2000 has been observed.These\udterms describe two distinct, overlapping concepts and,\udarguably, ethnicity is preferable to race.There are\udlimited genetic differences between racial groups,\udundermining the traditional use of race as an indicator\udof biological difference between populations. The\udbroader concept of ethnicity emphasizing cultural differences\udhelps to determine aetiology, tackle inequalities,\udassess need, make public health plans and direct\udresource allocation.In Europe, race has been\udlargely superseded by ethnicity