Picture Perfect: An Analysis of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in Orthopaedic Sports Medicine Website Imagery and Language.

BACKGROUND

Diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) is important on patient-facing orthopaedic websites for patients to connect with healthcare providers. Image representation and language availability on websites allow for improved patient outcomes. The purpose of this study was to investigate DEI in orthopaedics through the critical evaluation of patient-facing imagery and language present on orthopaedic sports medicine websites.

METHODS

Using the US News and World Rankings, the top 50 orthopaedic departments were compiled. The orthopaedic sports medicine websites with images (N = 36) were analyzed for representation of skin color/sex in images and language availability. The data were then compared with demographic information.

RESULTS

There was an increase in the proportion of White (19.11%, p = 0.003) and male patients (16.17%, p = 0.047) in website images compared with demographics. There was a decrease in the proportion of patients of color (16.17%, p = 0.012) and female patients (12.27%, p = 0.047) in website images compared with demographics. Of the 36 websites, 50% did not mention the availability of translated materials.

CONCLUSION

The images found on orthopaedic webpages overrepresent White and male patients while underrepresenting patients of color and female patients compared with local demographics. In addition, half of the orthopaedic sports medicine webpages lacked translated resources for non-English speaking patients, limiting their language accessibility. Orthopaedic programs could better use patient-facing websites to incorporate DEI for their patients, which could improve patient satisfaction and outcomes.

LEVEL OF EVIDENCE

Level IV. See Instructions for Authors for a complete description of levels of evidence.