Gender gap in treatment persists even when men and women have same condition

Women with the same medical conditions as men were less likely to receive the same treatment across several specialties, a global research review found.

The review found differences in care for conditions including cardiovascular disease, kidney disease and Parkinson’s, with women less likely to receive some active treatments.

Of 38 studies analysed, 33 found women were less likely than men to be offered active treatment.

Researchers at the University of St Andrews found women with myocardial infarction, heart failure or an irregular heartbeat were more likely to receive medication, while men were more likely to undergo coronary bypass surgery, stenting or other surgical treatment.

Women were also less likely to be prescribed statins.

Men with Parkinson’s were more likely to be referred for deep brain stimulation.

Men with liver failure were more likely to receive a transplant, while women with kidney disease requiring dialysis were less likely to receive permanent access and spent longer using a catheter.

Women were also less likely to receive opioids for pain management.

The researchers found no significant difference between women and men in treatment for stroke or diabetes, while women were more likely to receive treatment for dementia.

None of the studies identified clinical guidelines recommending different treatment based on sex.

Researchers said this suggested the differences could not be explained by the need for different clinical approaches to women’s health.

Dr Andrew O’Malley, who co-led the study, said: “For clinicians, the findings are a prompt to check whether treatment is being offered on clinical grounds rather than assumption.”

He said studies showed doctors more often attributed women’s symptoms to anxiety and made more diagnostic errors with female patients, even when test results were positive.

Dr Miriam Veenhuizen, honorary lecturer in the School of Medicine at St Andrews, said: “While the direction of the findings was not a surprise, the consistency was. The same pattern appeared in cardiology, surgery, transplant medicine and emergency care, and it survived statistical adjustment in most studies.”