Race matters: a systematic review of racial/ethnic disparity in Society for Assisted Reproductive Technology reported outcomes

Objective: To systematically review the reporting of race/ethnicity in Society for Assisted Reproductive Technology (SART) Clinic Outcome Reporting System (CORS) publications. Design: Systematic review using Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) methodology of literature published in PubMed on race/ethnicity that includes data from SART CORS. Setting: Not applicable. Patient(s): Not applicable. Intervention(s): In vitro fertilization cycles reported to SART. Main Outcome Measure(s): Any outcomes reported in SART CORS. Result(s): Seven publications were identified that assessed racial/ethnic disparities in IVF outcomes using SART data. All reported a racial/ethnic disparity. However, more than 35% of cycles were excluded from analysis because of missing race/ethnicity data. Conclusion(s): Review of current publications of SART data suggests significant racial/ethnic disparities in IVF outcomes. However, the potential for selection bias limits confidence in these findings, given that fewer than 65% of SART reported cycles include race/ethnicity. Our understanding of how race/ethnicity influences ART outcome could be greatly improved if information on race/ethnicity was available for all reported cycles. (Fertil Steril (R) 2012;98:406-9. (C) 2012 by American Society for Reproductive Medicine.)