The woman prioritizes the health of her environment over her own. Seven out of ten women say so, but three out of four have ever changed a doctor’s appointment to take care of their family, a figure that rises to 40% in the case of women between 36 and 55 years old.
Cover of the report Report “The gender perspective in health saves lives”
They are figures that are taken from the Special Report Tendèncias Cofares “The gender perspective in health saves lives”, on the occasion of the commemoration of International Women’s DayMarch 8, for which more than 1,000 women have been surveyed.
The results also show that seven out of ten see the need to incorporate the gender perspective into research and health care at a high level.
Gender perspective on pathologies
And from the Cofares Trend Observatory, they have analyzed the scientific literature to find out how the perspective of gender influences different diseases.
From 2018 to 2023, more than 5,000 scientific papers have been published in different areas that mainly show the differences in diagnostic symptoms and treatment in cardiovascular diseases, neurological diseases, autoimmune diseases, chronic pain, infectious diseases and cancer, among others, depending on gender/sex.
Among the factors that affect these differences are genetic, hormonal and environmental factors such as diet, physical activity, education, socioeconomic status or socialization.
According to the survey, 42.7% claim to be unaware of gender-specific symptoms such as those of a heart attack, which change in men or women.
Thus, the general signs in this case are pressure or pain in the center of the chest and in one or both arms. But in women, in particular, they can experience others such as difficulty breathing, nausea or vomiting, in addition to back or jaw pain.
For all this, the Observatory considers it “essential” to incorporate this sex/gender approach into clinical practice “to guarantee equitable, adequate, effective and quality care for all patients”.
How does the woman perceive her state of health?
The Observatory also asked the interviewees how they perceive their own health, both physical and mental, and whether the pandemic has influenced it.
In general, the Spanish women surveyed consider themselves to be in good health, and 60% of the respondents say they exercise regularly.
However, 53.8% of young women believe that their mothers and grandmothers had better health than they did when they were the same age.
60% say that they pay more attention to their health since the health crisis, especially young women, who in 71.8% point out that the health crisis has “truly” been a turning point in their self-care.
More attention does not mean more time
But as the report highlights, paying more attention to their own health doesn’t mean they’re getting the care they need, with 66% saying they have no more time to take care of themselves than they did before the pandemic.
In this sense, according to the survey, 73.4% of women say that they are more dependent on the health of the people around them than on their own.
Three out of ten Spanish women have ever changed a doctor’s appointment to take care of the family, in the case of women aged 36 to 55, the percentage rises to 40%.
“They, once again, take on the role of caretakers even when it comes to their own health,” the Observatory’s report underlines.
“Sandwich Generation”
It is precisely in the age range between 36 and 55 years where the lack of time for themselves is highest.
The Observatory explains that they belong to the so-called “sandwich generation”, which coincides with “having to take care of two groups: young and old”.
And it is they who are affected, among other factors, by the fact that the age to become a mother in Spain is getting higher and higher (32.61 years old), so that the population is getting older.