P4900 - Gender and Regional Disparities in Editorial Board Composition of Leading Gastroenterology and Hepatology Journals: A Cross-Sectional Analysis

Muhammad Romail Manan, MBBS, BSc¹, Iqra Nawaz, MBBS, BSc², Omer Usman, MD³, Eisha Nawaz, MBBS, Bsc², Areeba Salam, ⁴, Muhammad Imtanan Fazal, MD⁵, Fatima Zafar, MBBS^1
1Services Hospital, Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan; ²Bahawal Victoria Hospital, Bahawalpur, Punjab, Pakistan; ³Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center, El Paso, TX; ⁴Quaid-e-Azam Medical College, Bahawalpur, Punjab, Pakistan; ⁵Services Institute of Medical Sciences, Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan

Introduction: Given the rapidly changing demographics of the patient population in the field of gastroenterology and hepatology (GH), calling for asymmetries in power distribution among epistemic authorities becomes imperative, in order to inform practices that are in conformity with the goals of diversity, equity, and inclusion. Through this cross-sectional study, we aimed to evaluate the current status of diversity and inclusion in the leadership and management of GH journals.

Methods: Established patients of a community-based single-specialty GI group were included in the study and given access to an on-demand virtual platform staffed by GI-trained advanced practice providers from January 24 through April 12, 2024. Using the platform data, we retrospectively assessed user demographics and visit characteristics. Using a post-visit survey of patients and providers, we assessed patient experience and which alternative sites of service patients would have selected if the on-demand service had not been available, and analyzed provider recommendations.

Results: Of the top 20 journals, 90% were published by institutions in high-income countries (HICs), and 85% originated from the Global North (GN). Women comprised 25.4% of the total 1810 editorial board members (EBMs). The role of chief editor was held by a woman in 3 journals. No information was reported regarding non-binary and transgender editors. Additionally, 90.4% editors belonged to HICs with 71% editors belonging to North America, and Europe and Central Asia. About 80% of the journals did not have any EBMs belonging to Sub-Saharan Africa. The greatest gender disparity was observed in South Asia, in which 16.1% EBMs were women. The journals published by institutions based in Global South had fewer women editors in contrast to those originating from the GN (p< 0.05, rPB =.532). On JDI, no journal showed excellent diversity, while 16 journals demonstrated poor diversity.

Discussion: Despite the increasing prevalence of gastrointestinal diseases in low- and lower-middle-income countries, a significant portion of GH-related research originates from the GN. Thus, adequate representation of all genders, geographic regions, and country income levels is increasingly being recognized as a crucial means of improving patient care, as teams led by a homogeneous editorial board offer limited diversity in perspectives, limiting the collective pool of knowledge and consequently perpetuating epistemic wrongs.



Disclosures:


Muhammad Romail Manan, MBBS, BSc¹, Iqra Nawaz, MBBS, BSc², Omer Usman, MD³, Eisha Nawaz, MBBS, Bsc², Areeba Salam, ⁴, Muhammad Imtanan Fazal, MD⁵, Fatima Zafar, MBBS¹. P4900 - Gender and Regional Disparities in Editorial Board Composition of Leading Gastroenterology and Hepatology Journals: A Cross-Sectional Analysis, ACG 2024 Annual Scientific Meeting Abstracts. Philadelphia, PA: American College of Gastroenterology.