Trends in the Proportion of Female Speakers at Medical Conferences in the United States and in Canada, 2007 to 2017.
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ABSTRACT:
SUBMITTER: Ruzycki SM
PROVIDER: S-EPMC6481599 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Apr
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
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Trends in the Proportion of Female Speakers at Medical Conferences in the United States and in Canada, 2007 to 2017.
Ruzycki Shannon M SM Fletcher Sarah S Earp Madalene M Bharwani Aleem A Lithgow Kirstie C KC
JAMA network open 20190405 4
<h4>Importance</h4>Gender equity is a prominent issue in the medical profession. Representation of female physicians at academic meetings has been identified as an important component of gender equity; however, this topic has not been systematically assessed.<h4>Objective</h4>To determine the trend during the last decade in the proportion of speakers who were women at major academic medical conferences held in Canada and in the United States.<h4>Design, setting, and participants</h4>A cross-sect ...[more]
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Project description:ImportanceWomen in medicine have been underrepresented at medical conferences; however, contributing factors have not been well studied.ObjectiveTo examine the distribution of invited conference speakers by gender and factors associated with representation of women as speakers.Design, setting, and participantsThis cross-sectional analysis used medical conference programs from March 2017 to November 2018 across 20 specialties in 5 regions (Australasia, Canada, Europe, the UK, and the US) that were obtained online or from conference conveners.ExposuresGender of invited lecturers, panelists, and planning committee members for each conference based on name or picture and publicly available data on compositions of specialties by gender for included regions.Main outcomes and measuresOutcomes included the proportion of female speakers (invited lecturers and panelists), the number of single-gender panels, and the proportion of female speakers compared with the specialties' gender composition. Correlations between the gender composition of conference planning committees and the proportion of female speakers were assessed. Multivariable regression models were used to evaluate factors independently associated with the proportion of female speakers at conferences.ResultsA total of 8535 sessions (panels and invited lectures) with 23 440 speakers across 98 conferences were identified. Women accounted for 7064 (30.1%) of speakers; 1981 of 5409 panels (36.6%) consisted of men only, and 363 (6.7%) consisted of women only. The proportion of women speakers varied by region and specialty from 5.8% to 74.5%. In general, specialties with low baseline proportions of women (<20%) had a ratio of female speakers to female specialists greater than 1, whereas specialties with high baseline proportions of women (>40%) had a ratio of female speakers to female specialists less that 1. There was a strong positive correlation between the proportion of women on planning committees and conference representation of female speakers (r = 0.67; P < .001). The association remained statistically significant after controlling for other variables, including the regional gender balance of the specialty (odds ratio, 1.10; 95% CI, 1.04-1.15; P < .001 for every 10% increase in the proportion of women on the planning committee).Conclusions and relevanceIn this cross-sectional study, the proportion of female speakers at medical conferences was lower than that of male speakers, and more than one-third of panels were composed of men only. Increasing the number of women on planning committees may help address gender inequities.
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Project description:BackgroundThe last two decades have seen tremendous changes in the U.S. environment surrounding drugs. Driving under the influence of drugs is a growing public health hazard. The present study examined trends in drug involvement in fatally-injured drivers in the U.S.MethodsData were drawn from the 2007-2017 Fatality Analysis Reporting System. Cochran-Armitage tests were performed to assess the statistical significance of changes in the yearly prevalence of positive drug tests in fatally-injured drivers over time. In addition, analyses were stratified by sex, race, and age.ResultsThe yearly prevalence of positive drug tests in fatally-injured drivers increased significantly from 20.7% in 2007 to 30.7% in 2017, with results showing a higher prevalence among males, those aged 21-44, and Whites. The gap between Blacks and Whites narrowed in 2017. There was a decline in the yearly prevalence in all age groups between 2016 and 2017, although the decrease in the 21-44 age group was much smaller than other age groups. Among drivers who tested positive for drugs, 34.6% had a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) above the threshold of per se evidence for impaired driving, and 63% had a BAC below the threshold.ConclusionsOur results indicate that the overall yearly prevalence of fatally-injured drivers who tested positive for drugs increased significantly from 2007 to 2017, with similar results found for subgroups. Findings further highlight that drugged driving remains a public health priority, and more action is needed to stem this disturbing trend.
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Project description:ObjectivesTo examine the trends in cannabis use within 30 days of first admission to inpatient psychiatry in Ontario, Canada, between 2007 and 2017, and the characteristics of persons reporting cannabis use.MethodsA retrospective cross-sectional analysis was conducted for first-time admissions to nonforensic inpatient psychiatric beds in Ontario, Canada, between January 1, 2007, and December 31, 2017, using data from the Ontario Mental Health Reporting System (N = 81,809).ResultsAcross all years, 20.1% of patients reported cannabis use within 30 days of first admission. Use increased from 16.7% in 2007 to 25.9% in 2017, and the proportion with cannabis use disorders increased from 3.8% to 6.0%. In 2017, 47.9% of patients aged 18 to 24 and 39.2% aged 25 to 34 used cannabis, representing absolute increases of 8.3% and 10.7%, respectively. Increases in cannabis use were found across almost all diagnostic groups, with the largest increases among patients with personality disorders (15% increase), schizophrenia or other psychotic disorders (14% increase), and substance use disorders (14% increase). A number of demographic and clinical factors were significantly associated with cannabis use, including interactions between schizophrenia and gender (area under the curve = 0.88).ConclusionsAs medical cannabis policies in Canada have evolved, cannabis use reported prior to first admission to inpatient psychiatry has increased. The findings of this study establish a baseline for evaluating the impact of changes in cannabis-related policies in Ontario on cannabis use prior to admission to inpatient psychiatry.
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Project description:ImportanceThe use of medical imaging has sharply increased over the last 2 decades. Imaging rates during pregnancy have not been quantified in a large, multisite study setting.ObjectiveTo evaluate patterns of medical imaging during pregnancy.Design, setting, and participantsA retrospective cohort study was performed at 6 US integrated health care systems and in Ontario, Canada. Participants included pregnant women who gave birth to a live neonate of at least 24 weeks' gestation between January 1, 1996, and December 31, 2016, and who were enrolled in the health care system for the entire pregnancy.ExposuresComputed tomography (CT), magnetic resonance imaging, conventional radiography, angiography and fluoroscopy, and nuclear medicine.Main outcomes and measuresImaging rates per pregnancy stratified by country and year of child's birth.ResultsA total of 3 497 603 pregnancies in 2 211 789 women were included. Overall, 26% of pregnancies were from US sites. Most (92%) were in women aged 20 to 39 years, and 85% resulted in full-term births. Computed tomography imaging rates in the United States increased from 2.0 examinations/1000 pregnancies in 1996 to 11.4/1000 pregnancies in 2007, remained stable through 2010, and decreased to 9.3/1000 pregnancies by 2016, for an overall increase of 3.7-fold. Computed tomography rates in Ontario, Canada, increased more gradually by 2.0-fold, from 2.0/1000 pregnancies in 1996 to 6.2/1000 pregnancies in 2016, which was 33% lower than in the United States. Overall, 5.3% of pregnant women in US sites and 3.6% in Ontario underwent imaging with ionizing radiation, and 0.8% of women at US sites and 0.4% in Ontario underwent CT. Magnetic resonance imaging rates increased steadily from 1.0/1000 pregnancies in 1996 to 11.9/1000 pregnancies in 2016 in the United States and from 0.5/1000 pregnancies in 1996 to 9.8/1000 pregnancies in 2016 in Ontario, surpassing CT rates in 2013 in the United States and in 2007 in Ontario. In the United States, radiography rates doubled from 34.5/1000 pregnancies in 1996 to 72.6/1000 pregnancies in 1999 and then decreased to 47.6/1000 pregnancies in 2016; rates in Ontario slowly increased from 36.2/1000 pregnancies in 1996 to 44.7/1000 pregnancies in 2016. Angiography and fluoroscopy and nuclear medicine use rates were low (5.2/1000 pregnancies), but in most years, higher in Ontario than the United States. Imaging rates were highest for women who were younger than 20 years or aged 40 years or older, gave birth preterm, or were black, Native American, or Hispanic (US data only). Considering advanced imaging only, chest imaging of pregnant women was more likely to use CT in the United States and nuclear medicine imaging in Ontario.Conclusions and relevanceThe use of CT during pregnancy substantially increased in the United States and Ontario over the past 2 decades. Imaging rates during pregnancy should be monitored to avoid unnecessary exposure of women and fetuses to ionizing radiation.
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Project description:OBJECTIVES:This study analyzed Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey data from 2007 to 2017 to assess trends in the prevalence, treatment, and control of diabetes in Korean adults ?30 years of age. METHODS:Prevalent diabetes was defined as a fasting plasma glucose level ?126 mg/dL, self-reported use of anti-diabetic treatment (insulin or oral anti-diabetic drugs), or diabetes diagnosis by a physician. Target levels were defined as glycosylated hemoglobin <6.5% or <7.0%, blood pressure <130/80 mmHg, and total cholesterol <200 mg/dL. All survey waves were age-standardized to the 2005 Korean census population. RESULTS:Diabetes prevalence increased from 9.6% in 2007-2009 to 10.8% in 2016-2017 (p<0.001). Impaired fasting glucose prevalence significantly increased in both genders and almost every age group. Diabetes awareness and glycemic control did not show an increasing trend; however, the treatment rate and proportion of people diagnosed with diabetes achieving target blood pressure and total cholesterol levels improved from 57.2% to 63.5% (p=0.008), from 41.1% to 53.2% (p<0.001), and from 65.0% to 78.0% (p<0.001), respectively. CONCLUSIONS:From 2007 to 2017, the prevalence of diabetes increased moderately in Korea, whereas the diabetes treatment rate and the proportion of people diagnosed with diabetes achieving target blood pressure and total cholesterol levels improved. However, awareness of diabetes and glycemic control require significant improvements. A national-level action plan is required to raise awareness about diabetes and prediabetes, with the goal of improving glycemic control and minimizing the occurrence of adverse health outcomes.
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Project description:ImportanceThe current state of the US pathologist workforce is uncertain, with deficits forecast over the next 2 decades.ObjectiveTo examine the trends in the US pathology workforce from 2007 to 2017.Design, setting, and participantsA cross-sectional study was conducted comparing the number of US and Canadian physicians from 2007 to 2017 with a focus on pathologists, radiologists, and anesthesiologists. For the United States, the number of physicians was examined at the state population level with a focus on pathologists. New cancer diagnoses per pathologist were compared between the United States and Canada. These data from the American Association of Medical Colleges Center for Workforce Studies' Physician Specialty Data Books and the Canadian Medical Association Masterfile were analyzed from January 4, 2019, through March 26, 2019.Main outcomes and measuresNumbers of pathologists were compared with overall physician numbers as well as numbers of radiologists and anesthesiologists in the United States and Canada.ResultsBetween 2007 and 2017, the number of active pathologists in the United States decreased from 15 568 to 12 839 (-17.53%). In contrast, Canadian data showed an increase from 1467 to 1767 pathologists during the same period (+20.45%). When adjusted for each country's population, the number of pathologists per 100 000 population showed a decline from 5.16 to 3.94 in the United States and an increase from 4.46 to 4.81 in Canada. As a percentage of total US physicians, pathologists have decreased from 2.03% in 2007 to 1.43% in 2017. The distribution of US pathologists varied widely by state; per 100 000 population, Idaho had the fewest (1.37) and the District of Columbia had the most (15.71). When adjusted by new cancer cases per year, the diagnostic workload per US pathologist has risen by 41.73%; during the same period, the Canadian diagnostic workload increased by 7.06%.Conclusions and relevanceThe US pathologist workforce decreased in both absolute and population-adjusted numbers from 2007 to 2017. The current trends suggest a shortage of US pathologists.
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Project description:IntroductionOur goal in this study was to estimate rates of emergency department (ED) visits for fever by children <2 years of age, and evaluate frequencies of testing and treatment during these visits.MethodsWe performed a cross-sectional study of ED encounters from 2007-2017 using the National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey, a cross-sectional, multi-stage probability sample survey of visits to nonfederal United States EDs. We included encounters with a visit reason of "fever" or recorded fever in the ED. We report demographics and management strategies in two groups: infants ≤90 days in age; and children 91 days to <2 years old. For patients 91 days to <2 years, we compared testing and treatment strategies between general and pediatric EDs using chi-squared tests.ResultsOf 1.5 billion encounters over 11 years, 2.1% (95% confidence interval [CI], 1.9-2.2%) were by children <2 years old with fever. Two million encounters (95% CI, 1.7-2.4 million) were by infants ≤90 days, and 28.4 million (95% CI, 25.5-31.4 million) were by children 91 days to <2 years. Among infants ≤90 days, 27.6% (95% CI, 21.1-34.1%) had blood and 21.3% (95% CI, 13.6-29.1%) had urine cultures; 26.8% (95% CI, 20.9-32.7%) were given antibiotics, and 21.1% (95% CI, 15.3-26.9%) were admitted or transferred. Among patients 91 days to <2 years in age, 6.8% (95% CI, 5.8-7.8%) had blood and 7.7% (95% CI 6.1-9.4%) had urine cultures; 40.5% (95% CI, 40.5-40.5%) were given antibiotics, and 4.4% (95% CI, 3.5-5.3%) were admitted or transferred. Patients 91 days to <2 years who were evaluated in general EDs had higher rates of radiography (27.1% vs 15.2%; P<0.01) and antibiotic utilization (42.3% vs 34.2%; P<0.01), but lower rates of urine culture testing (6.4% vs 11.6%, p = 0.03), compared with patients evaluated in pediatric EDs.ConclusionApproximately 180,000 patients ≤90 days old and 2.6 million patients 91 days to <2 years in age with fever present to US EDs annually. Given existing guidelines, blood and urine culture performance was low for infants ≤90 days old. For children 91 days to <2 years, rates of radiography and antibiotic use were higher in general EDs compared to pediatric EDs. These findings suggest opportunities to improve care among febrile young children in the ED.
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Project description:The role of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection in increasing the risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) is controversial. The objective of the present study is to estimate the 10-year risk of CVD in HCV- positive subjects and describe their profile of cardiometabolic risk markers compared to HCV-negative subjects. We conducted a cross-sectional study to estimate 10-year CVD risk, calculated using the Framingham Risk Score (FRS), in participants from the Canadian Health Measures Survey (CHMS; 2007-2015, n = 10,115) and the US-National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES; 2007-2016, n = 16,668). Subjects included in our analysis were aged 30 to 74 years with no prior history of CVD. FRS estimates, sociodemographic and cardiometabolic risk factors were compared between HCV- positive and -negative subjects in the two surveys. HCV-positive subjects had a distinct sociodemographic profile compared to their HCV-negative counterparts. Cardiometabolic risk factors, inflammatory markers and serum levels of micronutrients were comparable between the two survey populations, both in HCV-positive and -negative subjects. The average FRS in HCV-positive patients was in the range of "intermediate" 10-year CVD risk (i.e., 10-20%) and was significantly higher (P<0.01) than their HCV-negative counterparts who were within the "low" 10-year CVD risk range (i.e., ?10%). Using a multivariable linear regression model adjusted for ethnicity, number of metabolic syndrome components and BMI, HCV infection was significantly associated with a 2.5-3.5% absolute risk increase of 10-year CVD (P<0.01). The results of the present study suggest a potential association between HCV infection and risk of subclinical and clinical CVD. The expansion of anti-HCV therapy may also contribute to reduced CVD risk and burden in patients with chronic HCV infection and should be explored further in other datasets and population modelling studies.
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