Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2023 Dec;132(12):1669-1678.
doi: 10.1177/00034894231181752. Epub 2023 Jun 19.

Gender Differences in North American and International Otolaryngology Clinical Practice Guideline Authorship: A 17-Year Analysis

Dorsa Mavedatnia  1 , Grace Yi  2 , Emily Wener  1 , Jacob Davidson  3 , Yvonne Chan  2 , M Elise Graham  4
Affiliations

Gender Differences in North American and International Otolaryngology Clinical Practice Guideline Authorship: A 17-Year Analysis

Dorsa Mavedatnia et al. Ann Otol Rhinol Laryngol. 2023 Dec.

Abstract

Objective: To analyze gender differences in authorship of North American (Canadian and American) and international published otolaryngology-head and neck surgery (OHNS) clinical practice guidelines (CPG) over a 17-year period.

Methods: Clinical practice guidelines published between 2005 and 2022 were identified through the Canadian Agency for Drugs and Technology in Health (CADTH) search strategy in MEDLINE and EMBASE. Studies were included if they were original studies, published in the English language, and encompassed Canadian, American, or international OHNS clinical practice guidelines.

Results: A total of 145 guidelines were identified, encompassing 661 female authors (27.4%) and 1756 male authors (72.7%). Among OHNS authors, women and men accounted for 21.2% and 78.8% of authors, respectively. Women who were involved in guideline authorship were 31.0% less likely to be an otolaryngologist compared to men. There were no gender differences across first or senior author and by subspeciality. Female otolaryngologist representation was the greatest in rhinology (28.3%) and pediatrics (26.7%). American guidelines had the greatest proportion of female authors per guideline (34.1%) and the greatest number of unique female authors (33.2%).

Conclusion: Despite the increasing representation of women in OHNS, gender gaps exist with regards to authorship within clinical practice guidelines. Greater gender diversity and transparency is required within guideline authorship to help achieve equitable gender representation and the development of balanced guidelines with a variety of viewpoints.

Keywords: authorship; clinical guidelines; gender differences; otolaryngology.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of Conflicting InterestsThe author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Screening and identification of articles.
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
Female otolaryngology representation in guideline authorship over time (2005-2022).
Figure 3.
Figure 3.
Female and male otolaryngologist representation by subspeciality.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

References

    1. Bruce AN, Battista A, Plankey MW, Johnson LB, Marshall MB. Perceptions of gender-based discrimination during surgical training and practice. Med Educ Online. 2015;20:25923. doi:10.3402/meo.v20.25923 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Walton MM. Sexual equality, discrimination and harassment in medicine: it’s time to act. Med J Aust. 2015;203(4):167-169. doi:10.5694/mja15.00379 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Burgos CM, Josephson A. Gender differences in the learning and teaching of surgery: a literature review. Int J Med Educ. 2014;5:110-124. doi:10.5116/ijme.5380.ca6b - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Tesch BJ, Wood HM, Helwig AL, Nattinger AB. Promotion of women physicians in academic medicine. Glass ceiling or sticky floor? JAMA. 1995;273(13):1022-1025. - PubMed
    1. Eloy JA, Blake DM, D’Aguillo C, Svider PF, Folbe AJ, Baredes S. Academic benchmarks for otolaryngology leaders. Ann Otol Rhinol Laryngol. 2015;124(8):622-629. doi:10.1177/0003489415573073 - DOI - PubMed