Racial Disparities in Infant Drug Testing: A Research Note
Black infants were tested for drug exposure at more than twice the rate of White infants. Among those tested, both groups had similar positive rates-approximately 20%. Clinical risk factors explain only 38% of the racial disparity in testing rates. The remaining 61% may reflect differential treatment or unmeasured clinician observations. These findings raise concerns about fairness and trust in clinical decision-making.
Authors
- Coady Wing (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0033-7562)
- Cydney M. McGuire (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3723-1457)
- Engy Ziedan
- Mallory Dreyer
- Kosali Ilayperuma Simon (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3231-1466)
- Jennifer Silva (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1870-5052)
Institutions
- Indiana University Bloomington (US)
- Indiana University (US)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Demography
- Published
- 2026-11-10
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1215/00703370-12902176
- Primary Topic
- Prenatal Substance Exposure Effects
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00