Sex Disparity Persists in Pain Medicine: A Cross-Sectional Study of Chairpersons Within ACGME-Accredited Chronic Pain Fellowship Programs in the United States.

OBJECTIVE

To compare the representation of female and male chairpersons and evaluate their respective demographic, academic, and program-related characteristics in academic chronic pain institutions.

METHODS

We identified all chronic pain fellowship programs that are accredited by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) on April 19, 2021. We queried institutional websites or contacted programs directly to identify the respective departmental/divisional program chairperson. We abstracted data on program chairpersons from public databases and performed statistical comparisons of demographic, academic, and program-related characteristics between female and male program chairpersons.

RESULTS

Of the 111 ACGME-accredited chronic pain fellowship programs, we identified the current chairperson at 87 programs (78.4%). There were 17 female chairpersons (19.5%) and 70 male chairpersons (80.5%). A higher proportion of female chairpersons reported an academic rank of assistant professor compared with male chairpersons (35.3% vs 11.4%, = .027). Male chairpersons published more peer-reviewed articles compared with female chairpersons (median 32.0 vs 10.0 publications, = .001). Concordantly, male chairpersons achieved a higher H-index score compared with female chairpersons (median 10.0 vs 3.0, = .001). No differences were identified in other academic or program-related characteristics.

CONCLUSION

This cross-sectional study illuminates important details on sex-related differences in the chronic pain program chair role. Women chairpersons are underrepresented, have fewer peer-reviewed publications, and achieved a lower H-index score compared with male chairpersons. Establishing these baseline associations provides a reference for future studies to evaluate changes over time.