Gender-related variables for health research
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Gender-related variables for health research. / Nielsen, Mathias Wullum; Stefanick, Marcia; Peragine, Diana; Neilands, Torsten B.; Ioannidis, John P. A.; Pilote, Louise; Prochaska, Judith J.; Cullen, Mark R.; Einstein, Gillian; Klinge, Ineke; LeBlanc, Hanna; Paik, Hee Young; Schiebinger, Londa.
In: Biology of Sex Differences, Vol. 12, No. 23, 22.02.2021.Research output: Contribution to journal › Journal article › Research › peer-review
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TY - JOUR
T1 - Gender-related variables for health research
AU - Nielsen, Mathias Wullum
AU - Stefanick, Marcia
AU - Peragine, Diana
AU - Neilands, Torsten B.
AU - Ioannidis, John P. A.
AU - Pilote, Louise
AU - Prochaska, Judith J.
AU - Cullen, Mark R.
AU - Einstein, Gillian
AU - Klinge, Ineke
AU - LeBlanc, Hanna
AU - Paik, Hee Young
AU - Schiebinger, Londa
PY - 2021/2/22
Y1 - 2021/2/22
N2 - BackgroundIn this paper, we argue for Gender as a Sociocultural Variable (GASV) as a complement to Sex as a Biological Variable (SABV). Sex (biology) and gender (sociocultural behaviors and attitudes) interact to influence health and disease processes across the lifespan—which is currently playing out in the COVID-19 pandemic. This study develops a gender assessment tool—the Stanford Gender-Related Variables for Health Research—for use in clinical and population research, including large-scale health surveys involving diverse Western populations. While analyzing sex as a biological variable is widely mandated, gender as a sociocultural variable is not, largely because the field lacks quantitative tools for analyzing the influence of gender on health outcomes.MethodsWe conducted a comprehensive review of English-language measures of gender from 1975 to 2015 to identify variables across three domains: gender norms, gender-related traits, and gender relations. This yielded 11 variables tested with 44 items in three US cross-sectional survey populations: two internet-based (N = 2051; N = 2135) and a patient-research registry (N = 489), conducted between May 2017 and January 2018.ResultsExploratory and confirmatory factor analyses reduced 11 constructs to 7 gender-related variables: caregiver strain, work strain, independence, risk-taking, emotional intelligence, social support, and discrimination. Regression analyses, adjusted for age, ethnicity, income, education, sex assigned at birth, and self-reported gender identity, identified associations between these gender-related variables and self-rated general health, physical and mental health, and health-risk behaviors.ConclusionOur new instrument represents an important step toward developing more comprehensive and precise survey-based measures of gender in relation to health. Our questionnaire is designed to shed light on how specific gender-related behaviors and attitudes contribute to health and disease processes, irrespective of—or in addition to—biological sex and self-reported gender identity. Use of these gender-related variables in experimental studies, such as clinical trials, may also help us understand if gender factors play an important role as treatment-effect modifiers and would thus need to be further considered in treatment decision-making.
AB - BackgroundIn this paper, we argue for Gender as a Sociocultural Variable (GASV) as a complement to Sex as a Biological Variable (SABV). Sex (biology) and gender (sociocultural behaviors and attitudes) interact to influence health and disease processes across the lifespan—which is currently playing out in the COVID-19 pandemic. This study develops a gender assessment tool—the Stanford Gender-Related Variables for Health Research—for use in clinical and population research, including large-scale health surveys involving diverse Western populations. While analyzing sex as a biological variable is widely mandated, gender as a sociocultural variable is not, largely because the field lacks quantitative tools for analyzing the influence of gender on health outcomes.MethodsWe conducted a comprehensive review of English-language measures of gender from 1975 to 2015 to identify variables across three domains: gender norms, gender-related traits, and gender relations. This yielded 11 variables tested with 44 items in three US cross-sectional survey populations: two internet-based (N = 2051; N = 2135) and a patient-research registry (N = 489), conducted between May 2017 and January 2018.ResultsExploratory and confirmatory factor analyses reduced 11 constructs to 7 gender-related variables: caregiver strain, work strain, independence, risk-taking, emotional intelligence, social support, and discrimination. Regression analyses, adjusted for age, ethnicity, income, education, sex assigned at birth, and self-reported gender identity, identified associations between these gender-related variables and self-rated general health, physical and mental health, and health-risk behaviors.ConclusionOur new instrument represents an important step toward developing more comprehensive and precise survey-based measures of gender in relation to health. Our questionnaire is designed to shed light on how specific gender-related behaviors and attitudes contribute to health and disease processes, irrespective of—or in addition to—biological sex and self-reported gender identity. Use of these gender-related variables in experimental studies, such as clinical trials, may also help us understand if gender factors play an important role as treatment-effect modifiers and would thus need to be further considered in treatment decision-making.
U2 - 10.1186/s13293-021-00366-3
DO - 10.1186/s13293-021-00366-3
M3 - Journal article
C2 - 33618769
VL - 12
JO - Biology of Sex Differences
JF - Biology of Sex Differences
SN - 2042-6410
IS - 23
ER -
ID: 258045772