CSDE Affiliate Emily C. Williams (Health Services) and co-authors, including first author and UW Health Services PhD Graduate Robert Ellis, just published an article on “Proportion of alcohol use disorder diagnoses in electronic health records documented with stigmatized descriptors: a comparison across race, ethnicity, and sex” in JAMIA Open. The researchers classified AUD descriptors in electronic health records used to diagnose AUD as “stigmatizing” or “highly stigmatizing.” Stigmatizing AUD descriptors were terms that carry negative connotations, imply blame, moral failing, or character flaws. Highly stigmatizing AUD descriptors were non-standard medical terms with strong negative connotations. Among 61,886 AUD diagnoses, stigmatizing descriptors were used in 89% and highly stigmatizing in 19% of diagnoses. Differences across intersectional subgroups were minimal.