P4082 - Publications Related to Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Are Rare in Gastroenterology and Hepatology Literature

Alexandra Beem, BA¹, Mary Ryan, MD², Sonali Paul, MD, MS^2
1University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine, Chicago, IL; ²University of Chicago, Chicago, IL

Introduction: Sexual and gender minority (SGM) communities face numerous social and health-related challenges that directly affect digestive health. Collecting information on sexual orientation and gender identity (SOGI) is critical to addressing disparities and providing high-quality care to SGM people, who make up 7% of the US population and 20% of 18-25-year-olds. This study measures the prevalence of SOGI-related publications in the past decade of gastroenterology (GI) and hepatology literature.

Methods: The top three GI and hepatology journals (according to the 2022 H-index) were searched in PubMed using 12 NIH-identified SGM-related terms. Eight of the terms describe sexual minorities (lesbian, gay, bisexual, sexual minority, men who have sex with men, women who have sex with women, homosexual, and non-heterosexual), two terms describe gender minorities (transgender and gender minority), and two describe all SGM people (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (LGBT) and queer). Irrelevant and duplicate publications were removed, and the remaining articles were cross-checked in journal portals and searched for specific terms.

Results: Gastroenterology was the top ranked journal for both GI and hepatology in 2022; the second and third ranked journals were Gut and American Journal of Gastroenterology and Hepatology and Journal of Hepatology, respectively (Table 1). We found 33,022 articles published from 2012-2022 in the five journals. Of these, only 38 articles (0.12%) were SOGI-related. The total number of SOGI-related publications per year ranged from 2 (2013, 2017, 2021) to 6 (2016), with no clear trend over time. Of the 38 SOGI-related publications, 34 discussed only sexual minorities, 2 discussed only gender minorities, and 2 referenced both.

Within GI journals, 0.08% of articles were SOGI-related. The American Journal of Gastroenterology published the highest number (6) and the highest proportion (0.12%). Within hepatology journals, 0.13% of articles were SOGI-related. The Journal of Hepatology published the highest number (13) and highest proportion (0.21%).

Discussion: Publications addressing SGM communities are rare within top-tier GI and hepatology research, with particularly few publications addressing gender minorities. These findings may be due to perceived clinical irrelevance or lack of SOGI data collection. Strategies to mitigate this disparity could include mandating SOGI data collection, or a statement explaining why it was not collected, for certain publications.


Disclosures:


Alexandra Beem, BA¹, Mary Ryan, MD², Sonali Paul, MD, MS². P4082 - Publications Related to Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Are Rare in Gastroenterology and Hepatology Literature, ACG 2023 Annual Scientific Meeting Abstracts. Vancouver, BC, Canada: American College of Gastroenterology.