Racial Disparities Unearthed for U.S. Neurologic Genetic Testing in Children

“We were encouraged to see that pediatric neurologists’ requests for genetic tests were no different based on the patients’ racial or ethnic identity,” said study author Jordan Janae Cole, from the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus. “However, the Black children had a lower rate of completing the genetic tests. While they were denied insurance coverage at a higher rate, that disparity did not account for all of the difference, indicating that other potential barriers and biases need to be addressed.”