Study: women 74% more likely labeled psychosomatic — SkimNews
Get the Health newsletter
Daily health & science — research, biotech, public health, the studies worth knowing. Free.
- Cambridge-UEA study of over 6,600 autoimmune patients found women are 74% more likely than men to have symptoms misdiagnosed as psychosomatic and 46% more likely overall to receive a psychiatric misdiagnosis after adjusting for age, disease group, continent and household finances.
- 43% of women reported being told their condition was psychiatric, versus 33% of men, while 34% of women had symptoms dismissed as psychosomatic compared with 22% of men.
- Women's diagnosis delays were substantially longer — the most common window was one to two years, versus less than three months for men — and women also reported more healthcare consultations along the way.
- Lead author Melanie Sloan, of Cambridge and UEA's department of public health and primary care, said psychological explanations are given "too soon" and that misdiagnosis causes lasting damage to women's "trusting doctors and their own self-esteem."
- Researchers identified "historical biases" in medicine, writing that "females may face additional disadvantages" and are positioned as "less credible and emotional reporters of symptoms than males."
- Co-author and patient Shaista Tayabali said the gap persists despite hysteria being an outdated label, calling gender bias "a challenging aspect of the diagnostic journey" for women.
- The study, published in Lancet eClinicalMedicine, notes autoimmune conditions affect roughly one in 10 people globally and often present with symptoms common in the wider population, complicating diagnosis for both sexes.
Why it matters: Roughly one in 10 people globally has an autoimmune condition, and the study quantifies a specific mechanism behind delayed treatment: clinicians are more likely to attribute women's symptoms to psychological causes. For the 6,600-plus patients surveyed, that bias translates into multi-year diagnostic delays and eroded trust in medical care that researchers say can outlast the misdiagnosis itself.
Ask SkimNews
