Letter to the Editor
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2025. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Orthop. May 18, 2025; 16(5): 106951
Published online May 18, 2025. doi: 10.5312/wjo.v16.i5.106951
Linguistic exclusion in orthopedic research: Cultural adaptation, multilingual innovations, and pathways to global health equity
Qin-Zhi Liu, Lei Zeng, Nian-Zhe Sun
Qin-Zhi Liu, Lei Zeng, Nian-Zhe Sun, Department of Orthopedics, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha 410008, Hunan Province, China
Qin-Zhi Liu, Lei Zeng, Nian-Zhe Sun, National Clinical Research Center of Geriatric Disorders, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha 410008, Hunan Province, China
Co-corresponding authors: Lei Zeng and Nian-Zhe Sun.
Author contributions: Liu QZ wrote the first draft, developed the main ideas, and led revisions; Sun NZ spearheaded the conception and design of the study and provided critical revision of the manuscript. Zeng L directed the analytical framework, coordinated interdisciplinary collaborations, and supervised the interpretation of results alongside manuscript finalization.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.
Open Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Nian-Zhe Sun, MD, PhD, Department of Orthopedics, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, No. 87 Xiangya Road, Kaifu District, Changsha, Hunan, Changsha 410008, Hunan Province, China. sunnzh201921@sina.com
Received: March 12, 2025
Revised: April 9, 2025
Accepted: April 21, 2025
Published online: May 18, 2025
Processing time: 66 Days and 1.4 Hours
Core Tip

Core Tip: The dominance of English in orthopedic research perpetuated systemic linguistic exclusion, marginalized non-English-speaking populations and compromised global health equity. Culturally adapted tools, such as the Arabic version of the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons Foot and Ankle Outcomes Questionnaire, combined with artificial intelligence driven dialect recognition and policy reforms, are essential for enhancing inclusivity, mitigating bias, and addressing disparities in evidence-based medicine.