Emergency rooms in Israel and the United States are reported to provide less appropriate care for women’s pain than men’s.
A study of more than 21,000 emergency room admissions in both countries concluded that the problem is systemic.
Researchers describe the problem as worrying, pointing out that “pain management decisions in emergency departments disadvantage female patients compared to male patients.”
According to the study, women not only spend longer in hospital, their pain levels are also less frequently documented and they are often discharged without appropriate medication.
“Our research reveals a disturbing bias in the way women’s pain is perceived and treated in emergency care,” Professor Shoham Choshen-Hillel of the Hebrew University said in a statement.
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Persons who visit the emergency department for serious or minor complaints should be familiar with the various pain scales used to assess the need for treatment.
Basic pain assessment tools include a scale of 1 to 10, often accompanied by pictures.
This method allows the patient to describe any sensation, from mild discomfort to complete agony. In numerous cases, a “consistent gender disparity” occurs.
According to the study, patients with corresponding complaints are less likely to receive treatment at every level of pain and in every age group.
According to the study, doctors are ten percent less likely to ask their patients to record their pain when they have serious problems.
Other scenarios identified in the study include staff not considering it important to record pain scores as part of treatment.
Women are also less likely to receive a prescription for any type of painkiller (opioids and non-opioids) than male patients.
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The team responsible for this study points out that these problems could lead to inadequate treatment.
A man and a woman with exactly the same condition – for example, a stage 7/10 foot fracture – could be treated very differently, according to the study.
“This undertreatment of pain in female patients could have serious consequences for their health, potentially leading to longer recovery times, complications or chronic pain conditions,” explains Choshen-Hillel.
Interestingly, it made no difference to the care provided whether the patient was treated by a male or female doctor.
Both male and female doctors approach treatment in the same way, which the researchers say suggests that the problem is widespread throughout the medical community.
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In addition, problems with patient triage were identified.
A controlled experiment involving 109 nurses found that nurses rated their patients’ pain as less intense when the patient was a woman, even despite the information available to them.
The study suggests that research shows that women’s pain is often not properly treated in medical facilities.
Recommendations were made to train healthcare professionals to identify and address gender bias.
Other proposals include reviewing and standardizing pain management guidelines to ensure fair and effective treatment for all patients.
References
Guzikevits, M., Gordon-Hecker, T., Rekhtman, D., Salameh, S., Israel, S., Shayo, M., Gozal, D., Perry, A., Gileles-Hillel, A., & Choshen-Hillel, S. (2024b). Gender bias in pain management decisions. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 121(33). https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2401331121
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