Gender Differences in International Cardiology Guideline Authorship: A Comparison of the US, Canadian, and European Cardiology Guidelines From 2006 to 2020

Devesh Rai, Ashish Kumar, Syed Hamza Waheed, Ritambhara Pandey, Miranda Guerriero, Ankita Kapoor, Muhammad Waqas Tahir, Salman Zahid, Adrija Hajra, Mallory Balmer-Swain, Silvia Castelletti, Angela H.E.M. Maas, Julia Grapsa, Sharon Mulvagh, Shelley Zieroth, Ankur Kalra, Erin D. Michos, Martha Gulati

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

27 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Women continue to be underrepresented in cardiology and even more so in leadership positions. We evaluated the trends and gender differences in the guideline writing groups of the American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association (ACC/AHA), Canadian Cardiovascular Society (CCS), and European Society of Cardiology (ESC) guidelines from 2006 to 2020. METHODS AND RESULTS: We extracted all guidelines authors from 2006 to 2020, assessed their gender from publicly available profiles, and compared differences based on subspecialties and specific societies. Stratified and trend analyses were per-formed using χ2 and average annual percentage change/average 5 year percentage change. A total of 80 ACC/AHA (1288 authors [28% women]), 64 CCS (988 authors [26% women]), and 59 ESC (1157 authors [16% women]) guidelines were analyzed. A significant increase in inclusion of women was seen in ACC/AHA (12.6% [2006] to 42.6% [2020]; average annual percentage change, 6.6% [2.3% to 11.1%]; P=0.005) and ESC (7.1% [2006] to 25.8% [2020]; average annual percentage change, 6.6% [0.2% to 13.5%]; P=0.04), but the trend remained similar in CCS (20.6% [2006] to 36.3% [2020]; average annual percentage change, −0.1% (−3.7% to 3.5%); P=0.94), guideline authors. More women were coauthors in the ACC/AHA and ESC guidelines when women were chairs of guidelines. There was a persistent disparity of women among guideline authors for general cardiology and all subspecialties, except for pediatric cardiology and heart failure guidelines. The appointment of women authors as a chair was significantly low in all societies (22.4% [ACC/AHA], 16.9% [CCS], and 7.2% [ESC]; P=0.008). CONCLUSIONS: There is a significant disparity in the inclusion of women on all national guideline committees, in addition to serving as a chair of cardiology guidelines. Further advocacy is required to promote equity, diversity, and inclusion in our cardiology guidelines globally.

Original languageEnglish
Article numbere024249
JournalJournal of the American Heart Association
Volume11
Issue number5
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Mar 1 2022

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 The Authors. Published on behalf of the American Heart Association, Inc., by Wiley.

ASJC Scopus Subject Areas

  • Cardiology and Cardiovascular Medicine

PubMed: MeSH publication types

  • Journal Article

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