Studies from Louisiana State University Further Understanding of Managed Care (Low Rates of Reporting Race, Ethnicity, and Socioeconomic Status In Studies Published In Top Orthopaedic Journals): Managed Care

Education Daily Report

2022 AUG 23 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Education Daily Report -- Investigators publish new report on Managed Care. According to news reporting out of New Orleans, Louisiana, by NewsRx editors, research stated, “Although there have been calls for the routine reporting of patient demographics associated with health disparities, including race, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status (SES), in published research, the extent to which these variables are reported in orthopaedic journals remains unclear. We identified and examined all research articles with human cohorts published in 2019 in the 2 highest-ranked U.S. general orthopaedics journals, Clinical Orthopaedics and Related Research and The Journal of Bone & Joint Surgery.”

Our news journalists obtained a quote from the research from Louisiana State University, “Excluded from analysis were studies with no U.S.-based institution and those that did not report any demographic data. Articles were reviewed to determine study type; reporting of race, ethnicity, and any of 3 SES variables (i.e., income, education, and health-care insurance); and the inclusion of these demographics in multivariable analyses. A total of 156 articles met the inclusion criteria. Of these, 56 (35.9%) reported patient race and 24 (15.4%) reported patient ethnicity. Income was reported in 13 (8.3%) of the articles, education in 23 (14.7%), and health insurance in 18 (11.5%). Of the 97 papers that reported results of multivariable analyses, 30 (30.9%) included race in the analysis and 21 (21.6%) reported significance associated with race. Income, education, and health insurance were included in multivariable analyses in 7 (7.2%), 11 (11.3%), and 10 (10.3%) of the articles, respectively. Race, ethnicity, and SES were infrequently reported and analyzed within articles published in 2 of the top orthopaedic journals.”

According to the news editors, the research concluded: “This problem may be remedied if orthopaedic journals impose standards for the reporting and analysis of patient demographics in studies with human cohorts.”

This research has been peer-reviewed.

For more information on this research see: Low Rates of Reporting Race, Ethnicity, and Socioeconomic Status In Studies Published In Top Orthopaedic Journals. Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery, 2022;104(14):1244-1249. Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery can be contacted at: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, Two Commerce Sq, 2001 Market St, Philadelphia, PA 19103, USA.

Our news journalists report that additional information may be obtained by contacting Cody Crnkovic, Louisiana State University, Health Sciences Center, New Orleans, LA, United States. Additional authors for this research include Robert Quiring, Andrew G. Chapple, Amy Bronstone, Peter C. Krause and Vinod Dasa.

The direct object identifier (DOI) for that additional information is: https://doi.org/10.2106/jbjs.21.01159. This DOI is a link to an online electronic document that is either free or for purchase, and can be your direct source for a journal article and its citation.