Search

Purpose: Sociodemographic factors have been shown to influence musculoskeletal health. However, little is known regarding the frequency of reporting and analysis of certain sociodemographic variables (e.g., age, sex, height, weight, body mass index (BMI), race, and ethnicity) in randomized clinical trials (RCTs) pertaining to hand surgery. The purpose of this study was to assess the rate of reporting and analysis of these variables in RCTs published in the Journal of Hand Surgery (JHS). Methods: A systematic review was conducted of RCTs published in JHS between 2015 and 2021. For each study, we determined whether the following sociodemographic variables were reported and/or analyzed: age, sex, height, weight, BMI, race, and ethnicity. Frequencies were reported by year and as a cumulative total. Studies were evaluated using the Cochrane risk-of-bias tool. Results: A total of 45 RCTs met inclusion criteria, with about half (53.3%) originating from the United States. Age (97.8%) and sex (91.1%) were the most frequently reported sociodemographic variables, followed by race (17.8%), BMI (11.1%), and ethnicity (8.9%). Age (17.8%) was the most frequently analyzed variable, followed by sex (13.3%), and race (4.4%); the remaining variables were not analyzed in any study. Conclusions: While age and sex are reported at a high rate, only about 1 in 4 RCTs published in JHS report either race or ethnicity. All sociodemographic variables were infrequently included as part of statistical analysis. The significance of these findings should be recognized and used to interpret and enhance the methodology of future RCTs.

Background

Purpose Wrist fusion provides a solution to the painful, arthritic wrist, and can be concomitantly performed with or without a proximal row carpectomy (PRC). The benefits of combining a PRC with fusion include a large amount of local bone graft for fusion and a lower number of joints needed to fuse. We hypothesized that wrist fusion combined with PRC will have a higher fusion rate than wrist fusion performed without PRC. Methods A systematic review was performed to identify all papers involving wrist arthrodesis using the following databases: PubMed, Ovid, Scopus, Web of Science, and COCHRANE. A literature search was performed using the phrases “wrist” OR “radiocarpal” and “fusion” OR “arthrodesis”. Inclusion criteria included complete radiocarpal fusion performed for rheumatoid, posttraumatic, or primary arthritis; union rates available; English-language study. Studies were excluded if case reports; diagnoses other than the ones listed previously; inability to abstract the data. Data collected included wrist fusions with PRC or without PRC, union rate, patient age, underlying diagnosis, and method of fixation. Results A total of 50 studies were included in the analysis. There were 41 studies with no PRC, 8 studies with PRC, and 1 study with and without PRC. There were 347 patients with a PRC and 339 patients had a successfully fused wrist (97.7%). There were 1,355 patients who had a wrist fusion with no PRC, and1,303 patients had successful wrist fusion (96.2%). The difference in fusion rate between the 2 groups, 97.7% versus 96.2%, was not statistically significant. Conclusions There is no statistically significant difference with regards to union rate in wrist fusion with a PRC versus wrist fusion without a PRC. Type of study/level of evidence Therapeutic IV.