Race/ethnicity misclassification of persons reported with AIDS

Objectives. To examine differences in race/ethnicity classifications of persons with AIDS among three reporting sources and to estimate the effect of these differences on calculated AIDS rates. Methods. We reviewed case reports from the national AIDS surveillance database, interview (self‐reported) data from 11 state/local health departments, and death certificate information from 16 state/local health departments for agreement in race/ethnicity coding among persons reported with AIDS. Results. Race/ethnicity coding inconsistencies with AIDS case reports were greatest for persons identified as American Indians/Alaska natives on death certificates (46% [47/102] disagreement) and by self‐report (57% 8/14 disagreement). Agreement with AIDS case reports was highest either for persons identified as white from death certificates (4% [1314/31 070] disagreement) and white from self‐reports (2% [26/1068] disagreement) or black from death certificates (3% [440/13 592] disagreement) and black from self‐repo...