What Is the Representation of Sexual and Gender Minority Identities Among Orthopaedic Professionals in the United States?

Abstract

Background: There is substantial corroborating evidence that orthopaedic surgery has historically been the least diverse of all medical and surgical specialties in terms of race, ethnicity, and sex. Growing recognition of this deficit and the benefits of a diverse healthcare workforce has motivated policy changes to improve diversity. To measure progress with these efforts, it is important to understand the existing representation of sexual and gender minorities among orthopaedic professionals.

Questions/purposes: (1) What proportion of American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS) members reported their identity as a sexual or gender minority? (2) What demographic factors are associated with the self-reporting of one's sexual orientation and gender identity?

Methods: The AAOS published the updated membership questionnaire in January 2022 to collect information from new and existing society members regarding age and race or ethnicity and newly added categories of gender identity, sexual orientation, and pronouns. The questionnaire was updated with input from a committee of orthopaedic surgeons and researchers to ensure face validity. The AAOS provided a deidentified dataset that included the variables of interest: membership type, gender identity, sexual orientation, pronouns, age, race, and ethnicity. Of 35,427 active AAOS members, 47% (16,652) updated their membership questionnaire. To answer our first study question, we calculated the prevalence of participants who self-reported as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or another sexual or gender minority identity (LGBTQ+) and other demographic characteristics of the 16,652 respondents. Categorical demographic data are described using frequencies and proportions. Median and IQR were used to describe the central tendency and variability. To answer our second study question, we conducted a stratified analysis to compare demographic characteristics between those who self-reported LGBTQ+ identity and those who did not. Visual methods (quantile-quantile plots) and statistical tests (Kolmogorov-Smirnov and Shapiro Wilk) confirmed that the age of AAOS member was not normally distributed. Therefore, a Kruskal Wallis test was used to determine the statistical associations between age and self-reported LGBTQ+ status. Chi-square tests were used to determine bivariate statistical associations between categorical demographic characteristics and self-reported LGBTQ+ status. A multivariable logistic regression model was developed to identify the independent demographic characteristics associated with respondents who self-reported LGBTQ+ identity. Further stratified analyses were not conducted to protect the anonymity of AAOS members. An alpha level of 5% was established a priori to define statistical significance.

Results: Overall, 3% (109 of 3679) and fewer than 1% (3 of 16,182) of the AAOS members (surgeons, clinicians, allied healthcare providers, and researchers) who updated their membership profiles reported identifying as a sexual (lesbian, gay, bisexual, queer) or gender minority (nonbinary or transgender), respectively. No individual self-identified as transgender. Five percent (33 of 603) of women and 3% (80 of 3042) of men self-identified as a sexual minority (such as lesbian, gay, bisexual, or queer). AAOS members who self-identified as LGBTQ+ were younger (OR 0.99 [95% confidence interval (CI) 0.98 to 0.99]; p < 0.001), less likely to self-identify as women (OR 0.86 [95% CI 0.767 to 0.954]; p < 0.001), less likely to be underrepresented in medicine (OR 0.49 [95% CI 0.405 to 0.599]; p < 0.001), and less likely to be an emeritus or honorary member (OR 0.75 [95% CI 0.641 to 0.883]; p < 0.003).

Conclusion: The proportion of self-reported LGBTQ+ AAOS members is lower than the 7% of the general US population. The greater proportion of younger AAOS members reporting this information suggests progress in the pursuit of a more-diverse field.

Clinical relevance: The study findings support standardized collection of sexual orientation and gender identity data to better identify and address diversity gaps. As orthopaedic surgery continues to transform to reflect the diversity of musculoskeletal patients, all orthopaedic professionals (surgeons, clinicians, allied healthcare providers, and researchers), regardless of their identities, are essential in the mission to provide equitable and informed orthopaedic care. Sexual and gender minority individuals may serve as important mentors to the next generations of orthopaedic professionals; individuals from nonminority groups should serve as important allies in achieving this goal.