The limited use of US residual newborn screening dried bloodspots for health disparity research.

Abstract

State-run newborn screening programs screen nearly all babies born in the United States at the time of delivery. After newborn screening has been completed, some states store the residual dried bloodspots. It is unknown how they have been used to address health disparities-related research. In 2017-2018, a scoping review was conducted to evaluate the extent, type, and nature of how residual dried bloodspots. The review included 654 eligible publications, worldwide, published before May 2017. A post hoc analysis of the US-based studies using residual dried bloodspots (n = 192) were analyzed. There were 32 (16.7%) articles identified that studied a condition of a known health disparity or focused on a key population: 25 studies assessed a disease or condition, 6 expressly enrolled a key population, and 1 study included both (i.e., heart disease and African American/Black). Excluding 12 studies that researched leukemia or a brain tumor, only 20 studies addressed a known health disparity, with 6 stating a specific aim to address a health disparity. This resource could be used to gain further knowledge about health disparities, but is currently underutilized.