Untreated Chronic Pain In Women A Global Issue, Reveals Lancet Study

In the landscape of healthcare, chronic pain remains a persistent and often overlooked issue, particularly for millions of women worldwide. Approximately half of chronic pain conditions have a higher prevalence in women compared to men, including low back pain and osteoarthritis. And female-specific pain conditions, such as endometriosis, are much more common than male-specific pain conditions such as chronic prostatitis/chronic pelvic pain syndrome. These statistics are seen across the lifespan, with higher rates of chronic pain being reported in females as young as two years old.

Even with glaring differences, there is a dearth of a comprehensive study on the origin of pain, how it interacts with sex and gender, and why women's pain management is still not meeting optimal standards.

Medical Gaslighting

These days, psychological manipulation in which a person is led to question their perspective of reality is commonly referred to as "gaslighting".The phrase is also used while talking about health. Medical gaslighting is the term used to refer to situations in which a medical professional employs a pattern of inquiries, examinations, or diagnoses that contradicts or is unrelated to the patient's history or symptoms. This theory is backed by the data, which demonstrates that women are more likely to be sent to psychologists and psychiatrists while males are more likely to be investigated for a potential medical reason.

Millions of women globally experience chronic pain, yet many remain untreated.

"It is time to start listening to women and their pain experiences", say editors in @TheLancetRheum's latest Editorial: https://t.co/4adUPiDJZN

— The Lancet (@TheLancet) May 23, 2024

Gender Disparity

Historically, across the entire research to treatment procedure, women are neglected. Recommendations for therapy were based only on this small sample size because men were the only subjects of preclinical and clinical research. Despite guidelines from organizations like the US National Institutes of Health requiring women to be included in all medical research, there is still a dearth of data in studies of chronic pain that employ gender and sex as variables. It is still completely unknown what social and psychological factors influence how a patient experiences pain. In comparison with males, women encounter an increased risk of painful ailments such as headache disorders, musculoskeletal disorders, and lower back pain, according to the 2021 GBD research.

Healthcare Inequity

When women seek medical care they are less likely to receive treatment or have to wait longer for treatment. In light of this, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) mandated that the NHS pay attention to women's complaints regarding their menstrual discomfort in their 2017 guidelines on the diagnosis and treatment of endometriosis. NICE's recommendations for managing patients with chronic pain do not take into account gender or sex, nor do they underscore the significance of listening to women who suffer from rheumatic illnesses and chronic pain syndromes.

Proposed Solution

Thus, promoting a more gender-responsive strategy and thorough understanding of pain perception and how people react to pain treatment can eradicate disparity in chronic pain research, thereby improving the quality of life for countless women.