Sex, Racial, and Ethnic Reporting in Regional Anesthesia Trials for Joint Arthroplasty: A Systematic Review of Published Versus ClinicalTrials.gov Data
Authors' conclusion
In this review of demographic reporting of US-based regional anesthesia RCTs for TJA, sex was consistently reported, whereas race and ethnicity were infrequently captured. The lack of difference in reporting practices across various trial characteristics points toward a broader issue within the field of regional anesthesia for TJA. Notable inconsistencies in demographic reporting on ClinicalTrials.gov were also observed. The absence of standardized demographic reporting underscores the need for journals to mandate consistent reporting practices in clinical research. Efforts to recruit more diverse study populations are essential to enhance the applicability of trial results and to address ongoing inequities in access to care and patient outcomes following TJA.
Study context
- Population
- US-based interventional randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of regional anesthesia for total joint arthroplasty (TJA) published from 2015 to 2025, registered and published in EnglishRCTs included in the final analysis, representing 2914 participants
- Participants
- 29 rcts
- Comparison
- Demographic reporting in published articles vs ClinicalTrials.gov
- Published journal articlesn = 29
- ClinicalTrials.govn = 29
- Outcome
- Reporting of participant sex, race, and ethnicity in publications and registry entries
Pooled result
As reported in the abstract
| Group | Reported sex | Reported race | Reported ethnicity |
|---|---|---|---|
| Published journal articles | 28 (96.6%) | 14 (48.3%) | five (17.2%) |
| ClinicalTrials.gov | 22 (75.9%) | 12 (41.4%) | seven (24.1%) |
Reported sex
Reported race
Reported ethnicity
Further pooled results
Participant race, among studies reporting race
- White, among participants of studies reporting race
- 1068 (78.5%)
- Black, among participants of studies reporting race
- 253 (18.6%)
- Other, among participants of studies reporting race
- 30 (2.2%)
- Asian or Pacific Islander, among participants of studies reporting race
- 6 (0.4%)
- Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander, among participants of studies reporting race
- one (0.07%)
Associations between reporting and trial characteristics (Fisher's exact test)
- Trial characteristics did not show statistically significant associations when comparing studies that did versus did not report race, ethnicity, or sex
Original publication
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