Sex and Gender Differences in Hematology

Course of distress, anxiety, and depression in hematological cancer patients: Association between gender and grade of neoplasm

“…The second and third evaluations allow an opportunity to closely follow patients, offering a personalized approach. In general, more women reported symptoms than men, mainly for Emotional and Physical Problems, which was also shown by Keller and Henrich (1999), Schmetzer andFlorcken (1998), andPandey et al (2006). Study participants with significant levels of distress, anxiety, and depression at T1 and T2 were mostly women, were diagnosed with lymphoma, and had high-grade hematological cancer; similar results were found by Pandey et al (2006) and Keller and Henrich (1999).…”

“…Distress assessments provide healthcare professionals with information about how patients are coping with diagnosis and treatment, allowing treatment or prevention of problems causing distress. These findings could be explained by the role differences between genders; for example, more men reported distress due to Practical issues than women, who asked for more help and support and were more likely to share their emotions (Keller & Henrich, 1999;Schmetzer & Florcken, 1998). Lymphoma patients reported greater distress than leukemia and myeloma patients, as also shown by Zabora et al (2001); however, these results should be interpreted with caution because of the unequal sample sizes for each disease.…”

“…More male participants reported Practical Problems as distressful at all timepoints, Family Problems at T1, and Spiritual Problems at T2; more women participants reported problem-related distress in the other categories and assessments. These findings could be explained by the role differences between genders; for example, more men reported distress due to Practical issues than women, who asked for more help and support and were more likely to share their emotions (Keller & Henrich, 1999;Schmetzer & Florcken, 1998). In general, more women reported symptoms than men, mainly for Emotional and Physical Problems, which was also shown by Keller and Henrich (1999), Schmetzer andFlorcken (1998), andPandey et al (2006).…”

“…engage in illness-related behaviors, such as reporting and monitoring symptoms, utilizing both informal and formal healthcare services, and adopting the sick role more easily (Keller & Henrich, 1999;Schmetzer & Florcken, 1998). Other studies have found that women usually share their emotional concerns to reduce their immediate sense of threat and are more likely to ask for social support.…”

Sex and gender differences in health

“…Of course, cardiovascular diseases are by no means the only area in which men and women differ in their susceptibility to and survival of disease. Generally, women are more frequently affected by all forms of anaemia; iron deficiency is a frequent cause of anaemia among women [8].…”