Reporting of Sex and Gender in Randomized Controlled Trials of Rehabilitation Treated Distal Radius Fractures: A Systematic Review

Objective

To determine the extent to which sex and gender are considered in the design and reporting of distal radius fracture rehabilitation randomized controlled trials (RCTs).

Data Sources

PubMed, Embase, CINAHL, and Pedro databases were searched in March 2022, and an updated search was conducted in July 2023.

Study Selection

All RCTs with a rehabilitation intervention and any comparison were included.

Data Extraction

We extracted information on the study characteristics and sex and gender reporting in the articles. We extracted whether the studies complied with the sex and gender equity in research (SAGER) guidelines and a reporting tool for sex and gender.

Data Synthesis

A total of 77 studies were included in this review. All studies were published between 1987 and 2021. Two were in children, and the rest were in adults. This systematic review found that sex and gender were adequately considered in only 6 of the 77 RCTs investigating rehabilitation interventions after distal radius fracture. Three of those studies were published before the SAGER guidelines were published in 2016, and 3 were published after 2016.

Conclusions

Overall, sex and gender were inadequately defined, and poorly addressed in the study design, conduct, and interpretation. Unfortunately, there was no evidence of improvement after 2016 when the SAGER guidelines became available.