Many people may have the wrong ethnicity recorded in their health records, according to a new study by Professor Pauline Norris, Dr Simon Horsburgh and students from the School of Pharmacy, University of Otago.

The study found that only 34 per cent of a sample of Korean, Chinese and Sri Lankan people from around New Zealand had their correct ethnicity recorded. Most of the rest were recorded as another Asian ethnicity, but 24 had a non-Asian ethnicity recorded (such as European or Middle Eastern) and 37 had no ethnicity recorded.

The researchers highlight the importance of people using the same name consistently when interacting with health services and checking that their name is spelt correctly on their records.

"It is very important that ethnicity is recorded accurately, because this is used to find out whether particular health problems are more prevalent in some communities, and whether people in these communities have fair access to health services," says Professor Norris.

There is an increasing trend to give "New Zealander" as an ethnicity, Professor Norris says.

"While it's great that people express their feelings of belonging and national identity in this way, it is not very helpful for tracking patterns of health problems in ethnic communities.

"For example, if a particular health problem became more common amongst Koreans, this might go undetected if Koreans were not accurately identified as such in their health records."

Professor Norris believes that people may sometimes be reluctant to tell healthcare providers their ethnicity, but they should feel free to discuss how their information will be stored and used.

Professor Norris and Dr Horsburgh recommend that when people visit their GP they ask reception staff to check what ethnicity they have recorded for them, and ask them to correct if it is wrong.