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Author Diversity on Clinical Practice Guideline Committees
Monica Verduzco-Gutierrez1, Nicole B Katz, Talya K Fleming
1From the Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, Joe R. and Teresa Lozano Long School of Medicine at UT Health San Antonio, San Antonio, Texas (MV-G); Department of Internal Medicine, Mount Auburn Hospital, Cambridge, Massachusetts (NBK); JFK Johnson Rehabilitation Institute at Hackensack Meridian Health, Edison, New Jersey (TKF); Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, Piscataway, New Jersey (TKF); Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Hackensack Meridian School of Medicine, Nutley, New Jersey (TKF); Department of Psychology, Integrative Neuroscience, University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois (EMS); Department of Internal Medicine, Kaiser Permanente Oakland Medical Center, Oakland, California (TLH); Joslin Diabetes Center, Boston, Massachusetts (NES); Department of Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts (NES); Department of Rehabilitation and Human Performance, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York (MXE); Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada (GRL); Department of Anesthesia and Pain Management, Toronto Western Hospital-University Health Network, Toronto, Ontario, Canada (GRL); The Wilson Centre, University Health Network, Toronto, Ontario, Canada (GRL); Women's College Research Institute, Women's College Hospital, Toronto, Ontario, Canada (GRL); Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts (JKS); Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts (JKS); Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts (JKS); and Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts (JKS).
Women and minority physicians are underrepresented in clinical practice guideline authorship. This study highlights disparities in author diversity and content within rehabilitation and pain guidelines, emphasizing the need for equitable representation.
Area of Science:
- Medical Research
- Health Equity
- Clinical Practice Guidelines
Background:
- Women physicians are underrepresented as authors of clinical practice guidelines.
- Existing literature indicates a lack of diversity in guideline development teams.
Purpose of the Study:
- To analyze the diversity of authors (gender, race, ethnicity) in rehabilitation-related clinical practice guidelines.
- To identify underrepresentation of women and minority physicians in guideline authorship.
- To examine diversity-related content in Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) guidelines.
Main Methods:
- Analysis of author demographics (gender, race, ethnicity, visible minority status) for VA and US clinical practice guidelines.
- Inclusion criteria focused on rehabilitation/pain guidelines and US guidelines with <20% women authors.
- Secondary analysis of VA guidelines for diversity-related content.
Main Results:
- Physician authors in both VA (24.2%) and US (16.7%) guidelines underrepresented women.
- Racial and ethnic minority authors were particularly underrepresented across both guideline sets.
- While women were equally represented overall in VA guidelines (50.0%), they were underrepresented in US guidelines (19.0%).
- A secondary analysis of VA guidelines revealed gaps in diversity-related content.
Conclusions:
- Significant underrepresentation of women and minority physicians exists in clinical practice guideline authorship.
- Disparities in author diversity and content within rehabilitation and pain guidelines are evident.
- Addressing these diversity gaps is crucial for impactful and equitable healthcare guidelines.
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