Geographic Access to Pediatric Orthopedic Surgeons in the United States: An Analysis of Sociodemographic Factors

Abstract

Background: It is unclear how pediatric orthopedic surgeons are geographically distributed relative to their patients. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the geographic distribution of pediatric orthopedic surgeons in the United States. Materials and Methods: County-level data of actively practicing pediatric orthopedic surgeons were identified by matching several registries and membership logs. Data were used to calculate the distance between counties and nearest surgeon. Counties were categorized as “surgeon clusters” or “surgeon deserts” if the distance to the nearest surgeon was less than or greater than the national average and the average of all neighboring counties, respectively. Cohorts were then compared for differences in population characteristics using data obtained from the 2020 American Community Survey. Results: A total of 1197 unique pediatric orthopedic surgeons were identified. The mean distance to the nearest pediatric orthopedic surgeon for a patient residing in a surgeon desert or a surgeon cluster was 141.9±53.8 miles and 30.9±16.0 miles, respectively. Surgeon deserts were found to have lower median household incomes ( P <.001) and greater rates of children without health insurance ( P <.001). Multivariate analyses showed that higher Rural-Urban Continuum codes ( P <.001), Area Deprivation Index scores ( P <.001), and percentage of patients without health insurance ( P <.001) all independently required significantly greater travel distances to see a pediatric orthopedic surgeon. Conclusion: Pediatric orthopedic surgeons are not equally distributed in the United States, and many counties are not optimally served. Additional studies are needed to identify the relationship between travel distances and patient outcomes and how geographic inequalities can be minimized. [ Orthopedics . 2024;47(4):e204–e210.]