To assess how often recent cardiology guidelines include LGBTQIA+-related terminology and recommendations.
Approach:
Guideline review: Reviewed 313 cardiology guidelines from American, European, and international societies, published in the 10 years before August 8, 2024.
Search and analysis: Searched for LGBTQIA+-related terms, including terms for sexual orientation, gender identity, population descriptors, and gender-affirming care; guidelines with a match were examined for relevant content.
Key Findings:
Six of 313 guidelines (1.9%) contained at least one searched term.
Two transplant guidelines mentioned men who have sex with men only in relation to donor screening and HIV transmission risk.
Other guidelines included limited references to transgender status in bariatric research, sexual orientation as a social determinant in chronic coronary disease management, hormone-related research needs, kidney care, and equitable stroke-risk treatment for pa…
Interpretation:
The authors describe LGBTQIA+ representation in the reviewed cardiology guidelines as limited and identify a gap between emerging evidence on cardiovascular risk factors and guideline content.
Limitations:
The review used a targeted keyword search; the context does not report whether guideline content lacking the searched terms was assessed.
The review was limited to guidelines available through GuidelineCentral and published during the 10 years before August 8, 2024.
Conclusion:
The authors call for future guideline development to incorporate dedicated LGBTQIA+-specific content.
