Women's pain is often downplayed in comparison to men, study finds

Women have often complained about how their medical conditions are downplayed by doctors, and now a study says that this is indeed true. According to the research, women when being discharged from emergency departments,are less likely to be given a prescription for pain medication when compared to men. The study was done on American and Israeli patients. The disparity existed even when both men and women were treated for the exact same ailments.

In one dataset comprising 17,576 patients, 47 per cent of men were released with a prescription for an analgesic medicine, while only 38 per cent of women were given a similar prescription. A total of 21,851 patients reached the hospital with complaints of pain, and the researchers found a huge disparity.

"Across these datasets, a consistent sex disparity emerges," the researchers write.

The study was conducted by a team led by psychologists Mika Guzikevits of The Hebrew University of Jerusalem and Tom Gordon-Hecker of Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in Israel. "We argue that female patients receive less pain treatment than they should, which may adversely impact their health," the paper says. The researchers highlight the "critical need to address psychological biases in healthcare settings to ensure fair and efficient treatment for all."

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"Female patients are less likely to be prescribed pain-relief medications compared to males, and this disparity persists even after adjusting for patients' reported pain scores and numerous patient, physician, and emergency department variables," the study says.

Sex of the patientonly reason for disparity

The researchers could not link the disparity to any other variable than the sex of the patient.

Pain has been something women have been fighting for years, along with the struggle to convince others that they are in pain. Women are often accused of exaggerating their pain. They are even called out as being hysterical, emotional,or even lying, and the medical implications of such thoughts can be profound. Women who report being in chronic pain are most oftendiagnosed with a mental health condition. They also fall behind when it comes toprescribing postoperative pain management medication. Several studies show that medical practitioners don't trust women as much as men when reporting pain.