Sex-Based Reporting of Common Musculoskeletal Conditions

Area of Science:

• Orthopedics
• Health Disparities
• Medical Research Methodology

Background:

• Sex and gender significantly influence health and disease, including musculoskeletal conditions.
• Current reporting practices in orthopedic literature regarding sex-specific outcomes are not well understood.
• Understanding these differences is crucial for advancing personalized medicine and equitable patient care.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the frequency of sex-specific outcome reporting in high-impact orthopedic journals.
• To compare reporting rates for conditions with known versus less-known sex-based differences.
• To investigate the influence of author gender on the reporting of sex-specific outcomes.

Main Methods:

• A review of original clinical studies published in four leading orthopedic journals (JBJS, CORR, AJSM, JOA).
• Analysis focused on whether studies reported outcomes stratified by sex beyond basic demographic counts.
• Author gender (first or last author) was assessed for its correlation with reporting sex-specific data.

Main Results:

• Sex-specific outcomes were reported in 24%-29% of rotator cuff pathology articles and 32%-40% of knee osteoarthritis articles.
• A trend suggested higher reporting for knee osteoarthritis (p=0.0562), but overall rates remained low.
• Articles with a woman as the first or last author were significantly more likely to report sex-specific outcomes.

Conclusions:

• The reporting of sex-specific outcomes in orthopedic research is notably low, despite the known impact of sex and gender on musculoskeletal health.
• While a trend towards increased reporting in knee osteoarthritis was observed, comprehensive sex-specific data is still lacking.
• Involving female researchers as lead authors may positively influence the reporting of sex-specific outcomes, underscoring the need for broader adoption of this practice across all orthopedic research.