3:54 PM Abstract No. 214 Then and now: female involvement in establishing clinical practice guidelines

Abstract

To characterize the growth of female authorship in the Society of Interventional Radiology (SIR) “Clinical Practice Guidelines” and “Reporting Standards” publications (henceforth called CPG) over a 15-year period and to identify ways to improve female representation. Invited authorship for CPGs published in the Journal of Vascular and Interventional Radiology over two 5-year periods (October 2014-September 2019, October 2004-September 2009) were compared. Both unique authors and total authorships were tallied. Author positions (first, senior) and gender were noted. CPGs were classified as covering “universal” topics (e.g., sedation) or “specific” topics that require content-experts (e.g., chemoembolization). A total of 340 authorships from 195 unique authors contributed to the 26 CPGs published in 2004-09. From 2014-19, the number increased to 525 authorships from 292 authors for 35 CPGs. Comparing the two time periods, female authorship increased from 11% (37/340) to 15% (78/525) (P = 0.11). There was an increase in female senior authorship (n = 2/26, 8% in 2004-09 vs. 5/35,14% in 2014-19) and in female first authorship (n = 3/26, 12% to 6/35, 17%). However, small sample sizes preclude statistical analyses. In the past 5 years, men were more likely to co-author multiple CPGs (mean: 1.88) than women (1.44, P = 0.028). For CPGs covering “universal” topics, there was a near-significant increase in female authorship (n = 7/87, 8% in 2004-09 vs. 26/147,18% in 2014-19, P = 0.064), while for “specific” topics (which represent 73% of total CPG authorships) the increase was not significant (n = 30/253, 12% in 2004-09 vs. 55/378,15% in 2014-19, P = 0.39). Invited SIR CGP authorship has increased for women over the last 15 years. Female representation in lead authorship roles has also expanded, as shown by an increase in female first and senior authors. While the incremental improvements are noteworthy, men are still more likely than women to author multiple CPGs, and female authorship has increased more slowly for CPG topics requiring content-expertise.