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Definitions & Annotations

  • Race: Populations based on shared physical or social qualities generally viewed as distinct by society.
  • Race “correction” (e.g., for spirometry values and GFR):  See excellent Ted Talk by global scholar, University of Pennsylvania civil rights sociologist and law professor, Dorothy Brown.
  • Ethnicity: The culture of people in a given geographic region or of people who descended from natives of that region.  It includes their language, nationality, heritage, religion, dress, and customs.
  • Latinx: (pronounced “lah-teen-EX”).  Gender-inclusive alternative to Latino and Latina.
  • Sex: Also referred to as “sex assigned at birth” is based on a person’s reproductive anatomy and external/internal genitalia.
  • Gender: Also referred to as “gender identity” is a person’s internal, deeply-felt sense of being either male, female, something other, or in between.  Gender identity may be congruent (cisgender) or incongruent (transgender, non-binary and other gender-inclusive terms) with one’s sex assigned at birth.
  • Intersex: May also be referred to as “differences of sex development” (DSD).  Intersex is a general term used for a variety of medical conditions in which a person is born with chromosomes, reproductive anatomy, and/or genitalia (sometimes referred to as “ambiguous genitalia”) that do not fit the typical definitions of female or male.
  • Pronouns: Also referred to as “personal gender pronouns” or just “pronouns” because the term “preferred” may imply that a person’s gender identity is a choice instead of a deeply felt sense of identity.  Gender-inclusive pronouns may include using they/them/their to refer to a single individual, ze (also spelled zie or xe, pronounced “zee” and used in place of she/he), hir (pronounced “here” and used in place of his/her or her/him), zir (pronounced “zeer” and also used in place of her/his or him/her), and many others.
  • Gender identity: a person’s internal, deeply-felt sense of being either male, female, something other, or in between.  Gender identity may be congruent (cisgender) or incongruent (transgender, non-binary and other gender-inclusive terms) with one’s sex assigned at birth.
  • Sexual orientation: A general term to describe the gender(s) to which one is emotionally and/or physically attracted.  Terms used to describe sexual orientation include:  heterosexual, straight, gay, lesbian, bisexual, pansexual and others.
  • Person-first language: emphasizes the person first, not the disability and is used to speak respectfully and appropriately about people with disabilities.  For example, “Joan is a person with a disability” is preferred over “Joan is disabled” or “Joan is handicapped.”  Similarly, “person who uses a wheelchair” is preferred over “confined to a wheelchair” or “wheelchair-bound.”  Download the PDF from the CDC.
  • Neurodiversity: The concept that neurological differences, including cognitive and behavioral differences, should be recognized and respected as should all other human variation.