WHERE ARE WE NOW? UNDERSTANDING TRENDS IN REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH DISPARITIES RESEARCH OVER THE LAST 20 YEARS

Abstract

To evaluate trends in health disparities research over time by quantifying health disparities abstracts and publications in reproductive medicine. Trends in reproductive healthcare disparities research were evaluated by quantifying the proportion of abstracts, publications, and statements pertaining to health disparities published during the years 2000, 2005, and 2010-2020. ASRM abstracts were included if they were published under the designated oral or poster Health Disparities section, or if the abstracts specifically addressed health disparities but were located within a different subsection of the program. Publications from Fertility and Sterility and Human Reproduction, and statements made by ASRM and ESHRE, specifically addressing health disparities during the study period, were also included. Two-sided Cochran-Armitage tests were used to assess trends in the proportion of health disparities research over time. Across the 20-year study period there was an overall increasing trend in health disparities research for ASRM abstracts within the Health Disparities section (ptrend=<0.0001), ASRM abstracts addressing health disparities (ptrend=<0.0001) and Fertility and Sterility publications (ptrend =<0.0001). No significant trend in health disparities research was found for Human Reproduction publications or committee position statements from ASRM or ESHRE. While trends in reproductive health disparities research have increased over the past two decades, health disparities research only comprises <3% of ASRM abstract content and <3.5% of annual journal publications.