Feminist issues in clinic care, research, and healthcare professionals in thrombosis and hemostasis

Abstract

Feminist issues in clinic care, research, and healthcare professionals in thrombosis and hemostasis Gender biases and inequities contribute to poorer clinical outcomes for female patients, and negatively affect their female caregivers. The McKinsey Health Institute recently estimated the economic burden and opportunity cost to be US $1 trillion for not closing this women's health gap. 1 Structural gender biases undermine current clinical care and manifest in a multitude of ways, 2 in the setting of thrombosis and hemostasis we have examples of dismissing clinical symptoms to gaps in understanding gender-specific presentations of common diseases in women, such as acute myocardial infarction, or uniquely female conditions like hypermenorrhea and associated iron-deficiency anemia. 3 Stereotyping and underrepresentation of female providers further compound the problem as they can erode patient trust which has been linked to care avoidance. 4 These systemic challenges collectively can contribute to delayed diagnoses, inadequate symptom relief, suboptimal treatment, and, ultimately, poorer clinical outcomes.Clinical research suffers as much as any area from gender bias.