An Overview of Sex and Gender in Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine

Shannon Kay; Margaret A Pisani

doi:10.1016/j.ccm.2021.04.001

An Overview of Sex and Gender in Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine

Clin Chest Med. 2021 Sep;42(3):385-390. doi: 10.1016/j.ccm.2021.04.001.

Authors

Shannon Kay¹, Margaret A Pisani²

Affiliations

¹ Department of Medicine, Yale University School of Medicine, 333 Cedar Street, PO Box 208057, New Haven, CT 06519, USA.
² Department of Medicine, Yale University School of Medicine, 333 Cedar Street, PO Box 208057, New Haven, CT 06519, USA. Electronic address: Margaret.pisani@yale.edu.

PMID: 34353445
DOI: 10.1016/j.ccm.2021.04.001

Abstract

Disparities in health care have risen to the forefront of medicine in the past several years. One of the most notable disparities in the research and delivery of health care relates to sex and gender. Sex and gender affect the epidemiology, pathophysiology, and outcomes of disease and social determinants of health and access to medical care. This article discusses some of the history of considering sex as a biologic variable in medical research and clinical care. It also clarifies the definitions and terminology necessary for understanding the biologic and social underpinnings of sex and gender.

Keywords: Gender differences; Gender-based biology; Genetic differences; Sex differences.

Publication types

Review

MeSH terms

Biomedical Research*
Critical Care
Delivery of Health Care
Gender Identity*
Humans
Sex Factors

Grants and funding

T32 HL007778/HL/NHLBI NIH HHS/United States