Future Directions in Sex- and Gender-specific Emergency Medicine

Abstract

The 2014 Academic Emergency Medicine consensus conference “Gender-Specific Research in Emergency Medicine: Investigate, Understand, and Translate How Gender Affects Patient Outcomes” convened a diverse group of stakeholders to target gaps in emergency medicine (EM) sex- and gender-specific research and identify research priorities. At the close of the conference, the executive committee sought feedback from group leaders and conference attendees about the next critical steps in EM sex- and gender-specific research, goals for their own future research, and anticipated barriers in pursuing this research. This article summarizes this feedback on the future directions in sex- and gender-specific research in emergency care and strategies to overcome barriers.

Do Gender and Race Make a Difference in Acute Coronary Syndrome Pretest Probabilities in the Emergency Department?

“…Over the past 20 years, concerted efforts have been made to identify health disparities based on gender, race, and ethnicity . Additionally, the specialty of emergency medicine has sought to define the key priorities in gender‐based research with respect to chest pain and ischemic heart disease among other disparities . However, despite these and other focused efforts like Healthy People 2010, it has been reported that these disparities still persist .…”

“…19 Additionally, the specialty of emergency medicine has sought to define the key priorities in gender-based research with respect to chest pain and ischemic heart disease among other disparities. 8,9,20 However, despite these and other focused efforts like Healthy People 2010, it has been reported that these disparities still persist. 21 Our study sought to determine if these patterns of racial and gender disparities were present in a large cohort of prospectively evaluated chest pain patients presenting to four EDs (two in North Carolina; one in Boston, Massachusetts; one in Jackson, Mississippi) with a heterogeneous population of patients and diverse practice patterns.…”

“…In recognition of these disparities professional EM organizations have taken a number of steps to increase awareness and lay out a research agenda to bridge these gaps. For example, the 2014 Academic Emergency Medicine Consensus Conference on Gender‐Specific Research in Emergency Care emphasized that all “researchers include gender stratification; make it a requirement for publication.” Further, chest pain risk stratification tools that currently appear to systematically categorize women as lower risk for ischemia were identified as a priority area for investigation …”

“…For example, the 2014 Academic Emergency Medicine Consensus Conference on Gender-Specific Research in Emergency Care emphasized that all "researchers include gender stratification; make it a requirement for publication." 8 Further, chest pain risk stratification tools that currently appear to systematically categorize women as lower risk for ischemia were identified as a priority area for investigation. 9 With this in mind, the purpose of this study was to test for significant differences in subjective and objective pretest probabilities for ACS in a large cohort of chest pain patients stratified by race or gender.…”

Funding Mechanisms for Gender-specific Research: Proceedings from a Panel Discussion at the 2014Academic Emergency MedicineConsensus Conference

“…1 Conference participants identified lack of funding or inability to access funding as the most common barrier to implementation of this research agenda. 2 We assembled a diverse group of funders (both federal and non-federal; AA, JB, RC, RF, JS) to serve on a panel to discuss the future of sex- and gender-specific research and training opportunities for emergency care researchers. The moderators were two of the conference organizers (BS, EKC).…”