College Student-Athlete Preferences for the Gender Identity, Race, and Ethnicity of Their Athletic Trainers and Team Physicians.

Abstract

Objective: Investigate student-athlete (SA) preference for gender identity, race, and ethnicity of their athletic trainers (ATs) and team physicians and understand reasons for these preferences.

Design: Cross-sectional.

Setting: Online survey.

Participants: National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) SAs.

Independent variables: SAs gender, race, and ethnicity.

Main outcome measures: SA preference for gender, race, and ethnicity of ATs and team physicians.

Resultsatotalof: 212 NCAA SAs completed the study. Those of minority gender (female), ethnicity (Hispanic), and race (non-white) were more likely to prefer ATs with concordant characteristics and this was significant for gender (odds ratio [OR] for ATs 8.81; OR for team physicians 4.41; both P < 0.01) and race (OR for ATs 12.25; OR for team physicians 10.22; both P ≤ 0.01) but not statistically significant for ethnicity (OR for ATs and team physicians 4.25; both P = 0.9). SAs cited the importance of professional competence, comfort during physical treatment, and empathy and relatability as reasons for their preferences.

Conclusion: NCAA SAs who identify as female or non-white race significantly prefer ATs and team physicians with concordant demographic characteristics. Understanding these preferences when building medical teams may help SAs feel safe and valued by their medical providers.