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World Journal of Urology Jan 2022Women are underrepresented at scientific conferences, decreasing the visibility of female role models, which are vital for aspiring young female scientists. This...
PURPOSE
Women are underrepresented at scientific conferences, decreasing the visibility of female role models, which are vital for aspiring young female scientists. This investigation aimed to evaluate female representation at the German Society of Urology's (GSoU) annual meeting.
METHODS
The programs of the GSoU meeting of 2011, 2018, 2019 and the virtual conference in 2020 were retrospectively quantified by gender and categorized by chair or speaker, type, and topic of the session. Descriptive analysis was applied. Univariate and multivariate analyses were performed to identify gender inequity and variables influencing gender distribution. A p value of < 0.05 was considered significant.
RESULTS
A total of 2.504 chairs and speakers were invited to the GSoU meeting in 2018 and 2019. Female speakers or chairs were represented in 17.8%, indicating a gender gap of 64.7%. There were significant differences between session type, topic, and gender distribution for chairs and speakers. The topic surgical techniques were independent variables for both, underrepresented female chairs and speakers, respectively (p < 0.001). Vocational policy and plenary session were not represented by any female chair in 2011, 2018, and 2019. In comparison, the gender gap in 2011 was 74.2%, indicating a gap reduction of 1.2% per year. In a selected virtual program in 2020, the gender gap increased to 70.4%.
CONCLUSION
There is still a significant discrepancy between gender representation at the GSoU annual meetings, and gender equity is currently not expected before 50 years. Future efforts should address the implementation of established guidelines for achieving gender equity at urological conferences.
Topics: Congresses as Topic; Female; Humans; Male; Physicians, Women; Retrospective Studies; Sex Distribution; Urology
PubMed: 34219179
DOI: 10.1007/s00345-021-03777-4 -
Anais Brasileiros de Dermatologia 2018The medical-dermatological demographics favors health planning and guides expansion of the specialty. We conducted an ecological study of dermatologists members of the...
The medical-dermatological demographics favors health planning and guides expansion of the specialty. We conducted an ecological study of dermatologists members of the Brazilian Society of Dermatology (SBD). We evaluated: gender, age, address; which were compared with population and human development index indicators of municipalities. We evaluated 8384 members, distributed in 527 (9.5%) municipalities throughout Brazil. The female sex represented 78.4% of the members and the median age was 43 (36-54) years. The median density of dermatologists was 0.35 (0.21-0.37) per 10,000 inhabitants. The correlation (Spearman's rho) between density of dermatologists and human development index was 0.39 (p <0.01). The Brazilian dermatologist is characterized as: female, age <50 years and presenting an heterogeneous distribution throught the country.
Topics: Adult; Age Distribution; Brazil; Cities; Dermatologists; Female; Humans; Male; Middle Aged; Population Density; Sex Distribution; Societies, Medical
PubMed: 29641706
DOI: 10.1590/abd1806-4841.20187395 -
Journal of the Chinese Medical... Sep 2009Earlier research suggested female predominance in adult conversion disorder, and the strong association between conversion disorder and experiences of being abused is...
BACKGROUND
Earlier research suggested female predominance in adult conversion disorder, and the strong association between conversion disorder and experiences of being abused is well known. However, the data for child and adolescent populations are limited. In Taiwan, the dramatic increase in child abuse may have some impact on the features of child and adolescent conversion disorder. This study aimed to compare the demographic characteristics, psychiatric comorbidity, and experiences of being abused in Taiwanese children and adolescents diagnosed with conversion disorder in psychiatric consultations across 2 decades.
METHODS
Retrospective and consecutive chart reviews were conducted for child and adolescent patients (< 20 years old) who were newly diagnosed with conversion disorder in psychiatric consultations at Taipei Veterans General Hospital from 1987 to 2006. The first group included patients who were diagnosed between 1987 and 1996 (the first decade), and the second group included patients who were diagnosed between 1997 and 2006 (the second decade).
RESULTS
A total of 42 patients diagnosed with conversion disorder were included in this study. Nineteen of the 42 subjects were diagnosed in the first decade (from 1987 to 1996), and 23 in the second decade (from 1997 to 2006). There existed among patients a tendency toward an increasing number of male subjects (p < 0.05), suffering more abuse (p < 0.05), and higher prevalence rates of depression and dysthymia comorbidity (p < 0.05) in the second decade compared to the first.
CONCLUSION
The sex distribution in conversion disorder might have significantly changed over the past 2 decades. There is an increasing need for screening and interventions for psychiatric comorbidity and experiences of being abused in children and adolescents with conversion disorder. Because of the small sample size of our study, further studies that include multiple study sites and a larger number of patients are needed before a firm conclusion can be drawn.
Topics: Adolescent; Adult; Child; Child Abuse; Comorbidity; Conversion Disorder; Female; Humans; Life Change Events; Male; Retrospective Studies; Sex Distribution
PubMed: 19762315
DOI: 10.1016/S1726-4901(09)70410-1 -
Arquivos Brasileiros de Cardiologia Sep 2013
Topics: Age Distribution; Brazil; Female; Humans; Medicine; Physicians, Women; Sex Distribution
PubMed: 24061755
DOI: 10.5935/abc.20130175 -
Euro Surveillance : Bulletin Europeen... Jun 2021BackgroundLegionnaires' disease (LD) incidence has been increasing in several European countries since 2011. Currently, Denmark is experiencing one of the highest annual...
BackgroundLegionnaires' disease (LD) incidence has been increasing in several European countries since 2011. Currently, Denmark is experiencing one of the highest annual incidences of LD despite its relatively cold climate and homogenous population, and the incidence differs notably across the country.AimWe sought to determine whether provincial differences in LD incidence are attributable to the age and sex distribution of the population, and to characterise the risk of LD by province and age group in Denmark.MethodsUsing national routine surveillance data for domestic LD cases collected between 2015 and 2018, we assessed the incidence of disease by province and year. Poisson regression models were fit to understand the risk of LD by year and province, as well as by 5-year age groups.ResultsIncidence of domestic LD increased 48% between 2015 and 2018 across Denmark. Some provinces continuously had a high incidence of disease, even after adjusting for yearly trends and the underlying population distribution. Variations in the proportion of the population aged 65 years and older were not responsible for the increase in disease in our analysis. Finally, incidence of disease increased with each 5-year age group in both men and women.ConclusionsThe relative differences in incidence between Danish provinces could not be explained by the age and sex distribution of the population, indicating that other factors must be responsible for the varying incidence across the country. These results may help inform trends in other countries in Europe also experiencing an unexplained high incidence of LD.
Topics: Denmark; Europe; Female; Humans; Incidence; Legionnaires' Disease; Male; Sex Distribution
PubMed: 34169817
DOI: 10.2807/1560-7917.ES.2021.26.25.2000036 -
Frontiers in Public Health 2023Population size and structure have a huge impact on health indicators. In countries with a high proportion of expatriates, there are some limitations in estimating,...
BACKGROUND
Population size and structure have a huge impact on health indicators. In countries with a high proportion of expatriates, there are some limitations in estimating, aggregating and reporting of the health indicators, and corrections may be required in the established estimation methodologies. We review the case of Qatar to see how its specific population characteristics affect its health indicators.
METHODS
We used routinely collected data and reviewed and calculated a selected list of health indicators for Qatari and non-Qatari populations residing in Qatar. Mortality and cancer incidence rates, stratified by nationality, were used for this purpose. Also, a direct method was used to estimate completeness of the death registry, compared to the mortuary data.
RESULTS
Age and sex distribution of Qatari and non-Qatari populations are completely different. Compared to the mortuary data, completeness of death registration for the total population was estimated at 98.9 and 94.3%, with and without considering overseas deaths, respectively. Both estimates were considerably higher than estimates from the indirect methods. Mortality patterns were different even after standardization of age and stratification of sex groups; male age-standardized mortality rates were 502.7 and 242.3 per 100,000 individuals, respectively for Qataris and non-Qataris. The rates were closer in female populations (315.6 and 291.5, respectively). The leading types of cancer incidents were different in Qataris and non-Qataris.
CONCLUSIONS
Expatriates are a dynamic population with high-turnover, different from Qatari population in their age-sex structure and health status. They are more likely to be young or middle-aged and are less affected by age related diseases and cancers. Also, they might be at higher risks for specific diseases or injuries. Aggregating indicators of Qatari and non-Qatari populations might be mis-leading for policy making purposes, and common estimation correction approaches cannot alleviate the limitations. High-proportion of expatriate population also imposes significant errors to some of the key demographic estimates (such as completeness of death registry). We recommend a standardized approach to consider nationality in addition to age and sex distributions for analysis of health data in countries with a high proportion of expatriates.
Topics: Female; Humans; Male; Middle Aged; Ethnicity; Neoplasms; Qatar; Sex Distribution
PubMed: 36825143
DOI: 10.3389/fpubh.2023.1035686 -
Sleep Medicine Reviews Feb 2016No systematic review of epidemiological evidence has examined risk factors for sleep disturbances among older adults. We searched the PubMed database combining search... (Review)
Review
No systematic review of epidemiological evidence has examined risk factors for sleep disturbances among older adults. We searched the PubMed database combining search terms targeting the following domains 1) prospective, 2) sleep, and 3) aging, and identified 21 relevant population-based studies with prospective sleep outcome data. Only two studies utilized objective measures of sleep disturbance, while six used the Pittsburgh sleep quality index (PSQI) and thirteen used insomnia symptoms or other sleep complaints as the outcome measure. Female gender, depressed mood, and physical illness were most consistently identified as risks for future sleep disturbances. Less robust evidence implicated the following as potentially relevant predictors: lower physical activity levels, African-American race, lower economic status, previous manual occupation, widowhood, marital quality, loneliness and perceived stress, preclinical dementia, long-term benzodiazepine and sedative use, low testosterone levels, and inflammatory markers. Chronological age was not identified as a consistent, independent predictor of future sleep disturbances. In conclusion, prospective studies have identified female gender, depressed mood, and physical illness as general risk factors for future sleep disturbances in later life, although specific physiological pathways have not yet been established. Research is needed to determine the precise mechanisms through which these factors influence sleep over time.
Topics: Aged; Aging; Female; Humans; Male; Prospective Studies; Risk Factors; Sex Distribution; Sleep Wake Disorders
PubMed: 26140867
DOI: 10.1016/j.smrv.2015.01.003 -
Current Biology : CB Oct 2020At face value, questions about the sex ratio have always seemed to have straightforward answers, which on closer inspection turn out to be fiendishly complex. The...
At face value, questions about the sex ratio have always seemed to have straightforward answers, which on closer inspection turn out to be fiendishly complex. The familial distribution of male and female births is no exception.
Topics: Female; Humans; Male; Reproduction; Sex Ratio
PubMed: 33080196
DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2020.08.036 -
The Israel Medical Association Journal... Jul 2001Autoimmune diseases are said to have high female/male (F/M) ratios, but these ratios are imprecise. Published definitions and classifications of autoimmune diseases... (Review)
Review
Autoimmune diseases are said to have high female/male (F/M) ratios, but these ratios are imprecise. Published definitions and classifications of autoimmune diseases differ substantially, as do the F/M ratios themselves. Imputed causality of autoimmune diseases requires better precision. Some thyroid, rheumatic and hepatic diseases consistently have high F/M ratios, but marked differences exist in the reported quantity of the ratios. Other autoimmune diseases have low F/M ratios. Because F/M ratios reflect incidence and not severity of disease, gonadal hormones, if they play a role, must do so through a threshold or permissive mechanism. Sex differences related to environmental exposure, X-inactivation, imprinting, X or Y chromosome genetic modulators, and intrauterine influences remain as alternate, theoretical, explanations for sex differences of incidence. The epidemiology of the sex-discrepant autoimmune diseases--young, female--suggests that an explanation for sex discrepancy lies in differential exposure, vulnerable periods, or thresholds, rather than in quantitative aspects of immunomodulation.
Topics: Age Factors; Animals; Female; Humans; Male; Mice; Rats; Rheumatic Diseases; Risk Factors; Sex Distribution; Sex Factors; Sex Ratio
PubMed: 11791419
DOI: No ID Found -
Advances in Physiology Education Mar 2007An abundance of recent research indicates that there are multiple differences between males and females both in normal physiology and in the pathophysiology of disease.... (Review)
Review
An abundance of recent research indicates that there are multiple differences between males and females both in normal physiology and in the pathophysiology of disease. The Refresher Course on Gender Differences in Physiology, sponsored by the American Physiological Society Education Committee at the 2006 Experimental Biology Meeting in San Franciso, CA, was designed to provide teachers of medical physiology with the background necessary to include the most important aspects of sex-based differences in their curricula. The presentations addressed sex-based differences in the physiology and pathophysiology of the cardiovascular, musculoskeletal, and immune systems as well as the cellular mechanisms of sex steroid hormone actions on non-reproductive tissues. The slides and audio files for these presentations are available at http://www.the-aps.org/education/refresher/index.htm. This overview highlights the key concepts relevant to the topic of sex-based differences in physiology: why these differences are important, their potential causes, and examples of prominent differences between males and females in normal physiological function for selected organ systems.
Topics: Autoimmune Diseases; Cardiology; Cardiovascular Physiological Phenomena; Curriculum; Female; Heart Diseases; Humans; Male; Osteoporosis; Sex Characteristics; Sex Distribution; United States
PubMed: 17327578
DOI: 10.1152/advan.00118.2006