Beyond demographics: Missing sociodemographics in surgical research.

introductionReporting sociodemographic data in research is critical to describe participants, and to identify contributing factors for patient experience, outcomes and heterogeneity of treatment effect (HTE). Social determinants of health and clinical health characteristics are important drivers of outcomes, and prospective studies collecting participant-reported data offer an opportunity to report these sociodemographics and evaluate for associations with outcomes. Clinical trials have underreported these factors previously, but reporting has not been examined in surgical research.

methodsWe reviewed prospective studies collecting participant-reported sociodemographic data from four surgical journals in 2016. The proportion of studies reporting variables of interest in "Table 1" is described. Variables included information on patient identity (e.g., age, sex), clinical health (e.g., disease-specific characteristics, BMI), individual-level (e.g., education, income) and interpersonal-level (e.g., marital status, support) risk factors.

resultsForty-one publications met inclusion criteria. All reported ≥1 patient identity variable, 93% reported ≥1 clinical characteristic, 63% reported ≥1 individual-level risk factor, and 7% reported an interpersonal-level risk factor. Age, sex, and disease-specific characteristics were reported most commonly (98%, 98%, 88% respectively). 40% of studies reported comorbidities, though <15% reported on mental health. 50% reported race, 27% reported ethnicity, 24% reported education level, and 22% reported functional status. Other examined factors were reported in <20% of publications. DISCUSSION: Sociodemographics reported in these surgical journals may be insufficient to describe the participants studied. This highlights an opportunity for the surgical research community to develop consensus on reporting of important sociodemographics that may be drivers of patient experience, outcomes and HTE.