Evidence map›Paper›PMID 33568013›Full record

ArticleScandinavian journal of public health2022

The Gender Pain Gap: gender inequalities in pain across 19 European countries.

Kweku Bimpong, Katie Thomson, Courtney L Mcnamara, Mirza Balaj, Nasima Akhter, Clare Bambra, Adam Todd

Open access · hybridAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Scandinavian journal of public health, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 36 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
36citing papers in PubMed, 2 pooled it
5.5field-weighted citation impact, top 4% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

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.

2 · The registry

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.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

36 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 50 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
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  6. Observational
  7. Schmerz (Berlin, Germany) · 2026
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  19. Physical symptoms among professional gamers within eSports, a survey study.BMC sports science, medicine & rehabilitation · 2024
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

7 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.

Kweku BimpongSchool of Pharmacy, Newcastle University, UK.
Katie ThomsonPopulation Health Sciences Institute, Newcastle University, UK.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9614-728X
Courtney L McnamaraCentre for Global Health Inequalities Research (CHAIN), Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), Norway.
Mirza BalajCentre for Global Health Inequalities Research (CHAIN), Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), Norway.
Nasima AkhterDepartment of Anthropology, Durham University, UK.
Clare BambraPopulation Health Sciences Institute, Newcastle University, UK.
Adam ToddSchool of Pharmacy, Newcastle University, UK.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1496-9341
Norwegian University of Science and Technology · NONewcastle University · GBDurham University · GB

Funding

Medical Research Council MR/K02325X/1
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

aimsChronic pain is increasingly considered to be an international public health issue, yet gender differences in chronic pain in Europe are under-examined. This work aimed to examine gender inequalities in pain across Europe.

methodsData for 27,552 men and women aged 25-74 years in 19 European countries were taken from the social determinants of health module of the European Social Survey (2014). Inequalities in reporting pain were measured by means of adjusted rate differences (ARD) and relative adjusted rate risks (ARR).

resultsAt the pooled pan-European level, a greater proportion of women (62.3%) reported pain than men (55.5%) (ARD 5.5% (95% confidence intervals (CI) 4.1, 6.9), ARR 1.10 (95% CI 1.08, 1.13)). These inequalities were greatest for back/neck pain (ARD 5.8% (95% CI 4.4, 7.1), ARR 1.15 (95% CI 1.12, 1.19)), but were also significant for hand/arm pain (ARD 4.6% (95% CI 3.5, 5.7), ARR 1.24 (95% CI 1.17, 1.30)) and foot/leg pain (ARD 2.6% (95% CI 1.5, 3.8), ARR 1.12 (95% CI 1.07, 1.18)). There was considerable cross-national variation in gender pain inequalities across European countries.

conclusionsSignificant gender pain inequalities exist across Europe whereby women experience more pain than men. The extent of the gender pain gap varies by country. The gender pain gap is a public health concern and should be considered in future prevention and management strategies.

Indexed as

Neck PainPublic HealthAdultAgedEuropeFemaleHealth Status DisparitiesHumansMaleMiddle AgedSex FactorsSocioeconomic FactorsEuropegenderinequalityPainsocioeconomic factors

Identifiers

PMID33568013
PMCPMC8873965
OpenAlexW3111747160

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

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.