Women are still underrepresented in medical research and face structural challenges in the healthcare system.
Vienna (OTS) – Research used to be mostly male-dominated – even today, medicine is still not sufficiently individualized in many areas. The Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for Digital Health and Patient Safety (LBI DHPS) is working to close these research gaps. On the occasion of International Women’s Day, the Ludwig Boltzmann Society (LBG) emphasizes the need for measures in this area.
Gender medicine is an emerging field within medical research that examines differences between the sexes in disease prevention, diagnosis and treatment. “While previous research focused primarily on men, this is now changing in the field of gender medicine – but only slowly
“, says institute director of the LBI DHPS Dr. Maria Kletecka Pulker. For example, cardiovascular diseases such as heart attacks in women are often not recognized and treated in a timely manner, which can lead to serious consequences such as heart failure or even death. It is also now known that medications sometimes work differently in women or have to be administered in different dosages.
Gender medicine does not only research anatomical differences and their effects. The Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for Digital Health and Patient Safety examines the entire treatment process and researches gender-specific differences.
The first patient contact: Telemedicine is on the rise
The LBI DHPS deals, among other things, with the topic of telemedicine. In Austria, interpreters in particular give people with other native languages a voice during treatment. The video interpreting project “Barrier-free Communication in Healthcare” developed by the institute enables women, primarily, to receive quick, location-independent diagnoses without translation errors. A breakthrough in telemedicine that made interpreters one of the first medical professions to be transformed and digitized during the COVID19 pandemic.
But here too there is a need to catch up. Although the majority of healthcare jobs are carried out by women, research into telemedicine technology is predominantly male. “It is therefore important that people research in these areas who always take the human factor and the gender aspect into account when using this technology
“, with Maria Kletecka-Pulker.
Treatment errors are mostly female
Medicine is still not sufficiently individualized in many areas and that leads to problems: “Initial studies have shown that it is predominantly women who complain to patient advocates or arbitration boards about alleged treatment errors
“, explains the director of the institute. “At first glance it is not obvious where this big difference comes from. We are currently working on this to get to the bottom of the matter.
“
Since there is no central register for treatment errors, a summary of several facts and figures is required. What is striking in previous studies is that there is a gender-specific difference in inquiries from nursing and patient advocates. The LBI DHPS has now begun to collect as many meaningful figures as possible. In Vienna alone, around 60 percent were female registrants in 2016. This can be due to various reasons: possible explanations lie in a higher level of exposure to treatment errors or may have causes in socialization as a woman.
Nursing is also being scrutinized at the Ludwig Boltzmann Institute, because blind spots in the health sector also affect women in these professional groups. The double burden of family and work can lead to treatment errors. At the LBI DHPS, researchers are trying to find out where which errors happen and why: “We never look for someone to blame. Our aim is to ensure the safety of patients. However, this only works if the employees can work safely and the appropriate organizational and legal framework conditions are in place. We therefore also appeal for more supervision in health professions
“, with Maria Kletecka-Pulker.
Patient safety is (also) a women’s issue
The denial of the right to self-determination in medicine also affects women disproportionately often. Due to the higher average life expectancy, the majority of female clients live in nursing homes. Due to a lack of legal precautions, transfers to hospital occur regularly, although patients do not always want this. Those affected are usually not sufficiently included in decisions. Here, too, there is a massive need to catch up. “It is incomprehensible why in 2024 we will still be transferring people in certain situations and not their data
“, concluded the institute director.
Questions & Contact:
Ludwig Boltzmann Society
Mag. Werner Fulterer
+43 1 513 27 50-28
werner.fulterer@lbg.ac.at
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