Do the Skin Colors Depicted in Orthopedic Literature Reflect the Population?

Depictions of skin color in medical journals have been observed to misrepresent the population in other fields but have not been studied in orthopedics. We assessed whether the spectrum of skin color depicted in orthopedic literature appropriately reflects the population and whether that representation has changed over time.

We examined images of human patients published in four journals: Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery (JBJS), Clinical Orthopaedics and Related Research (CORR), Journal of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (JAAOS), and The American Journal of Sports Medicine (AJSM) in 2010 and 2020. Fitzpatrick skin phototypes were used to categorize images as "lighter skin tone" (types I-III) or "darker skin tone" (types IV-VI), with the latter attributed to Black, Asian, Native American, and multiracial individuals. We compared published skin tones to 2020 United States census data (38% of the population being Fitzpatrick types IV-VI) using chi-square analysis.

Of 649 eligible images, 13% depicted Fitzpatrick skin types IV-VI. There was no significant change from 2010 to 2020 (11% vs 16%, P=0.07) in depictions of Fitzpatrick types IV and above. Darker skin tones were underrepresented compared to the US population (13% vs 38%, P<0.001). In US-based articles representation increased from 11% to 18% (P=0.045), but no change was observed in non-US articles (12% vs 12%, P=0.9).

While there has been a mild improvement over time in the diversity of skin colors represented, the depiction of darker skin types in orthopedic literature still falls well short of that seen in the general population. [Orthopedics. 2025;48(4):197-202.].