Women With Autoimmune Conditions Are More Likely to Be Misdiagnosed and Face Delays in Diagnosis
- A study published in The Lancet found females with autoimmune diseases are significantly more likely than males to have conditions misdiagnosed as psychiatric or psychosomatic, often facing longer delays in receiving correct treatment.
- Researchers from Cambridge and East Anglia stated that historical biases in medicine may persist, positioning women as "less credible" and "emotional" reporters of symptoms than males.
- Data shows 43% of females reported their autoimmune symptoms were misattributed to a psychiatric cause compared with 33% of males; 34% of females reported psychosomatic misdiagnoses compared with 22% of males.
- Dr. Melanie Sloan from the Department of Public Health and Primary Care at Cambridge emphasized that clinicians must consider autoimmune causes before giving psychiatric or psychosomatic diagnoses.
- Ultimately, researchers aim to understand why these differences occur to design effective solutions, with next steps involving collaboration with patients and clinicians to reduce diagnostic delays and improve care.
39 Articles
39 Articles
Cambridge University study reveals gender gap in misdiagnosis
Women With Autoimmune Diseases Are Being Told Symptoms Are 'In Their Head'
Autoimmune diseases – where the body mistakenly attacks its own cells, tissues, or organs – disproportionately affect women.In fact, some research suggests women face four times the risk of developing an autoimmune condition (like lupus, rheumatoid arthritis, and multiple sclerosis) compared with men. Stanford Medicine writes that as many as four out of five autoimmune disease patients are female.This might make the findings from a new paper, pu…
EverydayHealth.com
MSNBCTV NEWSWomen With Autoimmune Conditions Are More Likely to Be Misdiagnosed and Face Delays in Diagnosis
If you're told your symptoms are “all in your head” when something is physically wrong, it can leave you feeling dismissed and filled with self-doubt. In a new international study of adults with autoimmune diseases, researchers found that this scenario was more likely for women — an especially notable conclusion because autoimmune conditions typically occur more often in women than in men. Investigators found that women with autoimmune diseases …
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Courrier international
Women with an autoimmune disease are more often told than men that their symptoms are psychological or caused by stress. They also have to wait longer for a diagnosis and treatment. This is shown by research from the universities of Cambridge and East Anglia. According to gynecologist Els Dufraimont, another contributing factor is that medicine has historically developed primarily from the perspective of the male body. "In the past, it was not a…
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