Barriers and solutions in women’s health research and clinical care: a call to action

Abstract

It is now recognized that there are significant differences between the sexes affecting prevalence, incidence, and severity over a broad range of diseases, although the extent of the differences is not fully elucidated. Until the early 1990s, women were excluded from most clinical trials and the limited research including women focused primarily on diseases affecting fertility and reproduction. For these reasons, the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of chronic diseases in women continue to be based primarily on historical findings in men, and sex-specific clinical guidelines are often lacking. Many illnesses, ranging from cardiovascular disease to cancer to mental health issues, for example, differ by sex in terms of prevalence and adverse effects. Research is needed to understand how medically relevant biological sex differences optimally inform sex-specific prevention, diagnosis, and treatment strategies for women and men. In this way, sex-specific clinical guidelines can be developed where warranted, using evidence-based data.