Words Matter: Sex and Gender as Unique Variables in Research

Cardiovascular Disease in Women: An Update for Nurses

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading cause of death in women but is often underrecognized and undertreated. Women are more likely to experience delay in treatment and worse outcomes, even though they experience similar symptoms as men. Women are more likely to experience ischemia related to microvascular dysfunction, which is not readily diagnosed by commonly used diagnostic tests. Nurses are ideally positioned to be patient advocates and use evidence-based guidelines to encourage primary prevention and ensure prompt treatment. This paper provides an update on CVD in women for clinical nurses based on the latest research evidence.

An Analysis of the Use of the Terms Sex and Gender in Research Reported in Nursing Journals

Accurately measuring and reporting the demographic characteristics of research participants are imperative to provide consumers of research with an understanding of who was included in a study. While researchers often, incorrectly, use the variables sex and gender interchangeably, these 2 variables are different. We conducted a content analysis of 239 randomly selected research articles, with the purpose of describing how researchers have used sex and gender in studies published in nursing journals and identifying opportunities for improved clarity and precision in measuring these 2 variables. We found that significant improvement is needed in the way these variables are used/reported.

Differences in problem and pathological gambling: A narrative review considering sex and gender

Background and aim

A wide range of studies indicates that men and women with Problem (PrG) and Pathological Gambling (PG) differ in several clinical and sociodemographic characteristics. However, evidence for sex differences, such as the telescoping effect, is contradictory, and it is still unclear whether sex differences observed in offline gambling can also be found for online gambling. Furthermore, reviews have so far focused on binary sex differences but neglect gender aspects. In this study, an updated literature survey of sex- and gender-related differences in PrG and PG was conducted.

Methods

We searched PsyInfo, Medline/Pubmed, and the Web of Science databases from 2005 to 2020 for studies investigating sex and gender differences in gambling. A total of 126 papers were included in the literature survey.

Results

We are presenting our findings according to the categories 'prevalence' (offline, online, LGBTQI*), 'sociodemographic factors', 'preferred gambling type', 'gambling motives', 'severity', 'progression of gambling problems', 'use of professional help/motivation for treatment', 'comorbidity', 'trauma', 'violence and criminality/delinquency'. The studies indicate that, despite some robust sex differences (e.g., concerning prevalence rates), results for most areas were mixed or suggest no sex differences (e.g., violence, gambling motives).

Discussion and conclusion

To date, there is a lack of studies assessing gender, and not only sex, warranting further research in this area.