NIH Grant to Tackle Access to Youth Knee Injury Care in Chicago Hispanic Community

Knee injuries, especially those related to the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) or meniscus, are a common problem among young athletes and sometimes surgery is required to treat them. Unfortunately, many kids, especially those from Hispanic communities face significant delays in getting the care they need. These delays can have serious long-term consequences, such as arthritis and chronic pain.

Lurie Children’s orthopedic surgeon-scientist Dr. Neeraj Patel is working to change this. His latest research aims to understand why these delays happen and to develop solutions to get young athletes the care they need faster to avoid long-term health issues.

This summer, Dr. Patel was awarded a $840,000 grant for over five years from the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal Skin Diseases (part of the National Institutes for Health, or NIH) to support his work. The effort, titled RED KARD: Reducing Disparities in Knee Arthroscopy for Adolescents, is a first-of-its-kind effort in the U.S. The proposed work builds on Dr. Patel’s previous research, which helped expose how poor neighborhood conditions or having a preferred language other than English can delay needed care.

“We have established that inequities exist in the treatment of surgical knee injuries, but there is essentially no research on community-based interventions to address barriers,” Dr. Patel said. “With this new funding, my team and I hope to partner with communities and apply novel approaches to ultimately provide more equitable care.”

The grant will help Dr. Patel identify barriers to care by conducting interviews to understand the challenges Hispanic families in Chicago face when seeking care for knee injuries. About 40 percent of Chicago’s pediatric population is Hispanic. Dr. Patel will work with community members to develop an intervention that addresses the specific needs of Hispanic athletes and their families, and then launch a pilot test of the intervention with Chicago area soccer organizations.

Dr. Patel’s funding and efforts are distinct in the field of orthopedic surgery. Only 4% of academic orthopedists have funding from the National Institutes of Health, and fewer than 30 orthopedic surgeons have ever been awarded the type of grant Dr. Patel received.

Learn more about Dr. Patel’s project here.

Hear Dr. Patel discuss his research efforts in a Lurie Children’s Precision Podcast episode.