SynthesisJournal of health services research & policy2011
Do women consult more than men? A review of gender and consultation for back pain and headache.
Synthesis in Journal of health services research & policy, 2011. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 81 papers.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
81 citing papers in PubMed, 178 citations in OpenAlex.
- A comprehensive health-promoting neighborhood intervention to improve health care seeking behavior among reproductive age Iranian women.BMC women's health · 2023Trial
- Trial
- Trial
- Patient-centered professional practice models for managing low back pain in older adults: a pilot randomized controlled trial.BMC geriatrics · 2017Trial
- Efficacy of a smoking quit line in the military: baseline design and analysis.Contemporary clinical trials · 2012Trial
- Trial
- Article
- Molecular characterization of metallo-beta-lactamase producers among carbapenem-resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa from clinical samples in a tertiary care hospital, Lucknow, India.Naunyn-Schmiedeberg's archives of pharmacology · 2025Article
- Cervical radiculopathy management with physical, chiropractic, and acupuncture therapy: Factors associated with different therapy utilization patterns.North American Spine Society journal · 2025Article
- Clinical-epidemiological profile and factors associated with viral non-suppression in patients living with HIV/AIDS assisted at the Integrated Treatment Center at the Maputo Military Hospital (CITRA/MMH), 2019 to 2020.BMC infectious diseases · 2024Article
- Assessing Risk Factors and Comorbidities in the Treatment of Chronic Pain: A Narrative Review.Current pain and headache reports · 2024Review
- Telehealth Utilization and Associations in the United States During the Third Year of the COVID-19 Pandemic: Population-Based Survey Study in 2022.JMIR public health and surveillance · 2024Article
- Retrospective Analysis of Vitamin D Deficiency in an Adult Population of Arad County, Western Romania (2019-2022).Life (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Article
- Community perceived barriers to uptake of health services among men at Sedibeng district in South Africa.Health SA = SA Gesondheid · 2024Article
- Trends in Healthy Life Years Between 2005 and 2019 in 31 European Countries: The Compression or Expansion of Morbidity?International journal of public health · 2024Article
- Patient-reported reactogenicity and safety of COVID-19 vaccinations vs. comparator vaccinations: a comparative observational cohort study.BMC medicine · 2023Observational
- Sex and gender differences in primary care help-seeking for common somatic symptoms: a longitudinal study.Scandinavian journal of primary health care · 2023Article
- Vision-related quality of life amongst patients with low vision and blindness in a resource-limited country.International ophthalmology · 2023Article
- Clinical and epidemiological aspects of severe acute respiratory infection: before and during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic in Brazil.Transactions of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene · 2023Article
- Preventative health assessments and indigenous people of Australia: a scoping review.Frontiers in public health · 2023Article
21 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
objectivesBecause women consult their general practitioners more frequently on average than men, it is commonly assumed that they consult more for all symptoms and conditions. This assumption is reinforced by qualitative studies reporting a widespread reluctance to consult by men. However, few studies directly compare consultation in men and women experiencing similar symptoms or conditions.
methodsA systematic review of the evidence on gender and consultation for two common symptoms, back pain and headache. Extensive electronic searches identified 15 papers reporting the relationship between gender and help-seeking for back pain and 11 papers for headache. Two independent reviewers assessed articles for inclusion and extracted data from eligible studies.
resultsFew studies compared consultation patterns for these symptoms among men and women known to have experienced the symptom. The quality of the studies was variable. Overall, evidence for greater consultation by women with back pain was weak and inconsistent. Among those with back pain, the odds ratios for women seeking help, compared with men, ranged from 0.6 (95% confidence intervals 0.3, 1.2, adjusted only for age) to 2.17 (95% confidence intervals 1.35, 3.57, unadjusted), although none of the reported odds ratio, below 1.00 was statistically significant. The evidence for women being more likely to consult for headache was a little stronger. Five studies showed a statistically elevated odds ratio, and none suggested that men with headache symptoms were more likely to consult than women with headache symptoms. Limitations to the studies are discussed.
conclusionGiven the strength of assumptions that women consult more readily for common symptoms, the evidence for greater consultation amongst women for two common symptoms, headache and back pain, was surprisingly weak and inconsistent, especially with respect to back pain.
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What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.