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Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities"],"abstract":"<jats:title>Abstract<\/jats:title>\n                  <jats:p>\n                    Patient\u2013physician demographic concordance has been associated with improved communication, trust, and care experiences for minoritized patient populations, yet the demographic composition of team physicians in U.S. women\u2019s professional sports has not been evaluated. We conducted a cross-sectional study to evaluate racial, sex, and intersectional concordance between players and team physicians in the Women\u2019s National Basketball Association (WNBA) and National Women\u2019s Soccer League (NWSL). Official league rosters and publicly available online sources were used to identify players and team physicians, and race and sex were independently classified by multiple reviewers. Descriptive statistics summarized player and physician demographics, and chi-square tests compared racial distributions by league. Intersectional representation was assessed by quantifying Black women among team physicians. We identified 162 WNBA players, 380 NWSL players, 39 WNBA physicians, and 51 NWSL physicians. In the WNBA, 69.1% of players versus 28.2% of physicians were Black, with 64.1% of physicians White. In the NWSL, 67.1% of players versus 82.4% of physicians were White, and 18.4% of players versus 5.9% of physicians were Black. Racial distributions differed significantly between players and physicians in both leagues (\n                    <jats:italic>p<\/jats:italic>\n                    \u2009&lt;\u2009.01). Men comprised most team physicians (53.8% in the WNBA; 68.6% in the NWSL), and only five Black women were identified across all team physician roles. These findings demonstrate substantial racial, sex, and intersectional discordance between female professional athletes and their physicians, underscoring persistent gaps in workforce diversity that may have implications for athlete care.\n                  <\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1007\/s40615-026-02992-2","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,3]],"date-time":"2026-05-03T21:07:27Z","timestamp":1777842447000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1007\/springer_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Race and Sex Concordance Between Players and Team Physicians in U.S. Women\u2019s Professional Leagues"],"prefix":"10.1007","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0005-7036-8462","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Joseph","family":"Ekpo","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Savannah","family":"Mbamo","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"David","family":"Ekpo","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"297","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,3]]},"reference":[{"issue":"1","key":"2992_CR1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"117","DOI":"10.1007\/s40615-017-0350-4","volume":"5","author":"MJ Shen","year":"2018","unstructured":"Shen MJ, Peterson EB, Costas-Mu\u00f1iz R, Hernandez MH, Jewell ST, Matsoukas K, Bylund CL. The Effects of Race and Racial Concordance on Patient-Physician Communication: A Systematic Review of the Literature. J Racial Ethn Health Disparities. 2018;5(1):117\u201340. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1007\/s40615-017-0350-4.","journal-title":"J Racial Ethn Health Disparities"},{"issue":"3","key":"2992_CR2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"198","DOI":"10.1370\/afm.821","volume":"6","author":"RL Street Jr","year":"2008","unstructured":"Street RL Jr, O\u2019Malley KJ, Cooper LA, Haidet P. Understanding concordance in patient-physician relationships: personal and ethnic dimensions of shared identity. Ann Fam Med. 2008;6(3):198\u2013205. . https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1370\/afm.821","journal-title":"Ann Fam Med"},{"issue":"11","key":"2992_CR3","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"e2024583","DOI":"10.1001\/jamanetworkopen.2020.24583","volume":"3","author":"J Takeshita","year":"2020","unstructured":"Takeshita J, Wang S, Loren AW, Mitra N, Shults J, Shin DB, Sawinski DL. Association of Racial\/Ethnic and Gender Concordance Between Patients and Physicians With Patient Experience Ratings. JAMA Netw Open. 2020;3(11):e2024583. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1001\/jamanetworkopen.2020.24583.","journal-title":"JAMA Netw Open"},{"key":"2992_CR4","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"e65354","DOI":"10.2196\/65354","volume":"26","author":"A Areias","year":"2024","unstructured":"Areias A, Janela D, Molinos M, Bento V, Moreira C, Yanamadala V, Cohen S, Correia F, Costa F. Exploring the Importance of Race and Gender Concordance Between Patients and Physical Therapists in Digital Rehabilitation for Musculoskeletal Conditions: Observational, Longitudinal Study. J Med Internet Res. 2024;26:e65354. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.2196\/65354.","journal-title":"J Med Internet Res"},{"key":"2992_CR5","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","unstructured":"Eggermont D, Kunst AE, Hek K, Verheij RA. 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In accordance with institutional and national guidelines, this research did not require formal ethics committee approval.","order":2,"name":"Ethics","group":{"name":"EthicsHeading","label":"Ethics Approval"}},{"value":"Not applicable. This study did not involve human participants.","order":3,"name":"Ethics","group":{"name":"EthicsHeading","label":"Consent to Participate"}},{"value":"Not applicable. This study did not include any identifying information, images, or personal data from human participants.","order":4,"name":"Ethics","group":{"name":"EthicsHeading","label":"Consent to Publish"}},{"value":"The authors have no relevant financial or non-financial interests to disclose.","order":5,"name":"Ethics","group":{"name":"EthicsHeading","label":"Competing interests"}}]}}