Race-Neutral Approach to Pulmonary Function Testing with Meredith McCormack, MD, and Loretta Que, MD

The use of race-based normal values in medicine, and particularly in pulmonary function testing, refers to the practice of using one’s self-reported race to adjust a standard ‘normal range’ for various medical tests. This practice implies that different racial groups may have inherently different physiological values for specific health metrics like blood pressure or kidney function.

Such a practice has been shown to lead to potential misdiagnosis and disparities in healthcare delivery. Given these outcomes, the practice has become increasingly criticized given the complex and frequently inaccurate nature of implementing race as a biological marker and given the potential for racial bias in medical decision making among health care providers.

In the latest episode of Lungcast, host Albert Rizzo, MD, chief medical officer of the American Lung Association (ALA), discussed this topic on the monthly respiratory health podcast series. Rizzo spoke with Meredith McCormick, MD, a professor of medicine in the division of pulmonary and clinical care at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine and Environmental Health Services at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health Department.

McCormick has clinical experience expertise in asthma and COPD as well as pulmonary physiology and pulmonary function testing. She serves as the medical director of the Johns Hopkins University pulmonary function lab and as the immediate past chair of the American Thoracic Society committee for proficiency standards in pulmonary function testing.

The episode also features Loretta G. Que, MD, a professor of medicine at Duke University. Que serves as the chief of the division of pulmonary allergy and critical care medicine, and is the current principal investigator of the American Lung Association Clinical Research Center Program at Duke University.

Que has clinical expertise in asthma and COPD. She also serves as the American Thoracic Society committee for proficiency standards and pulmonary function testing, and is an ad-hoc member for the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute.

In this episode of Lungcast, the 2 guests discuss the use of race-based normal values in medicine, particularly in regard to pulmonary function tests.

“I think it's important to note that there's been a number of respiratory societies that have gotten involved in this initiative, including the American Thoracic Society, American College of Chest Physicians, the American Lung Association and the European Lung Foundation, and they've all prepared educational documents to inform patients and physicians alike about the impact of the race neutral equations,” Que noted.

Lungcast is a monthly respiratory news podcast series hosted by Albert Rizzo, MD, chief medical officer of the ALA, and produced by HCPLive.

Subscribe to Lungcast on Spotify here, or listen to the episode below.