Sociodemographic Characteristics in Clinical Algorithms

Although widely acknowledged as a social construct, race has historically been used as a factor in assessing and treating patients. Race-based clinical algorithms are presently being eschewed due to systematic biases, often underestimating the severity of disease or symptoms among Black patients. Instead, race is increasingly being substituted for alternate measures, such as social determinants of health, that are thought to more directly reflect social disadvantage and to influence health outcomes. For instance, the American Heart Association’s Predicting Risk of Cardiovascular Disease Events (PREVENT) equations, which were released in 2023 and are beginning to replace the Pooled Cohort Equations in cardiovascular disease guidelines, removed race and added, optionally, Social Deprivation Index–calculated at the zip code level. Despite these shifts, little is known about how the public views the changing role of patient race in medical decision-making.