Evidence map›Paper›PMID 42377755›Full record

ReviewJournal of bioethical inquiry2026

Mapping the Representation of Race and Other Health Disparities in U.S. Orthopaedic Journals : A Scoping Review.

D Vitkovska, C Wang, A Borole, A Tyagi, Y T Zhang, S Lamba, R Mittal

Abstract readReview
PubMed Publisher
In one paragraph

Review in Journal of bioethical inquiry, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
0citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

7 authors.

D VitkovskaRobert Wood Johnson Medical School, Rutgers University, 125 Paterson St, New Brunswick, NJ, 08901, United States. vitkovska.diana1135@gmail.com.ORCID http://orcid.org/0009-0009-5047-1429
C WangRobert Wood Johnson Medical School, Rutgers University, 125 Paterson St, New Brunswick, NJ, 08901, United States.
A BoroleRobert Wood Johnson Medical School, Rutgers University, 125 Paterson St, New Brunswick, NJ, 08901, United States.
A TyagiDepartment of Orthopedics, Maimondes Medical Center, 4802 10th Ave, Brooklyn, NY, 11219, United States.
Y T ZhangRobert Wood Johnson Library of the Health Sciences, 1 RWJ Place, PO Box 19, New Brunswick, NJ, 08901, United States.
S LambaDepartment of Emergency Medicine and Vice Chancellor for Diversity and Inclusion, 185 S Orange Ave, Newark, NJ, 07103, United States.
R MittalDepartment of Health Informatics, Rutgers University, 65 Bergen Street, Suite 120, Newark, NJ, 07107, United States.ORCID http://orcid.org/0009-0009-4310-7506

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Background Although interest in health disparities has expanded across medicine, the extent to which race and other social determinants of health are represented in orthopaedic research is unclear. Orthopaedics has traditionally emphasized biomechanical and procedural outcomes rather than structural or social drivers of inequity. This study maps how race and other determinants-gender, socioeconomic status, geography, and insurance-are represented within U.S. orthopaedic surgery journals. Methods A scoping review was performed following PRISMA-ScR guidelines. Searches in PubMed, Embase, Cochrane CENTRAL, CINAHL, Scopus, and Web of Science (2014-2024) identified orthopaedic publications addressing health disparities. Eligible articles analysed or reported variables such as race, ethnicity, sex/gender, socioeconomic status, geography, or insurance. Two reviewers independently screened and charted data. Results Among more than 180,000 articles across sixty-nine orthopaedic journals, 333 (<0.5 per cent) met inclusion criteria. Race/ethnicity appeared most frequently (94 per cent), followed by sex/gender (77 per cent), insurance (39 per cent), socioeconomic status (29 per cent), and geography (24 per cent). Nearly half of the included articles were published in 2022 or later. Of race-related articles, 58 per cent included race only as a demographic descriptor, while 42 per cent analysed race as a primary focus. Conclusion Despite recent growth, health disparities remain minimally represented in orthopaedic literature, with most studies using race descriptively rather than examining structural inequity. Greater engagement with social determinants is needed to advance equitable musculoskeletal care and uphold core bioethical principles.

Indexed as

Health disparitiesHealth equityOrthopaedic surgeryRacial inequitiesSocial determinants of health

Identifiers

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.