Women with autoimmune diseases are more likely to be misdiagnosed: study

Women with autoimmune diseases are 74% more likely than men to hear that their symptoms are psychological in nature. This conclusion was reached by researchers from the University of Cambridge and the University of East Anglia, the correspondent of the agency “Minsk-Novosti”.

The photo is illustrative in nature

According to The Guardian, the study involved more than 6,600 people with autoimmune diseases, most of them women from the UK.

Nearly a quarter of the women had Hashimoto’s disease, in which the thyroid gland is underactive, or Graves’ disease, in which it is overactive. Among male patients, the most common diseases were rheumatoid arthritis, vasculitis and antiphospholipid syndrome (APS).

It turned out that 43% of women have heard from doctors that their condition is associated with a psychiatric cause, among men this 33%. A third of women (34%) also reported that their symptoms were mistakenly considered psychosomatic, that is, caused by increased stress or anxiety. Only 22% of men have the same problem.

After taking into account age, group of diseases and other factors, the researchers found that compared to men, women are 46% more likely to receive an erroneous psychiatric diagnosis and 74% more likely to receive an erroneous psychosomatic one. Women also wait longer for a diagnosis. In men, this period is most often less than three months, in women - from one to two years.

Autoimmune diseases are difficult to diagnose because their symptoms often occur in healthy people. The researchers noted that difficulties affect both sexes, but women have additional adverse factors. In particular, in medicine, historical beliefs persist that women are less trustworthy and more emotionally communicate their symptoms than men.