Jove
Visualize
Contact Us
JoVE
x logofacebook logolinkedin logoyoutube logo
ABOUT JoVE
OverviewLeadershipBlogJoVE Help Center
AUTHORS
Publishing ProcessEditorial BoardScope & PoliciesPeer ReviewFAQSubmit
LIBRARIANS
TestimonialsSubscriptionsAccessResourcesLibrary Advisory BoardFAQ
RESEARCH
JoVE JournalMethods CollectionsJoVE Encyclopedia of ExperimentsArchive
EDUCATION
JoVE CoreJoVE BusinessJoVE Science EducationJoVE Lab ManualFaculty Resource CenterFaculty Site
Terms & Conditions of Use
Privacy Policy
Policies

Related Experiment Videos

Gender differences in the experience of headache.

D D Celentano1, M S Linet, W F Stewart

  • 1Division of Behavioral Sciences and Health Education, School of Hygiene and Public Health, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21205.

Social Science & Medicine (1982)
|January 1, 1990
PubMed
Summary

Women experience more frequent, severe, and longer headaches than men. They also report higher rates of headache-related disability and healthcare utilization, suggesting a complex interplay of biological and social factors.

Related Concept Videos

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by
Same author

Prevalence, severity, and risk factors for acute exacerbations of nasal and sinus symptoms by chronic rhinosinusitis status.

Allergy·2018
Same author

Validation and calibration of HeadCount, a self-report measure for quantifying heading exposure in soccer players.

Research in sports medicine (Print)·2016
Same author

Breast cancer risk and protracted low-to-moderate dose occupational radiation exposure in the US Radiologic Technologists Cohort, 1983-2008.

British journal of cancer·2016
Same author

Nasal and sinus symptoms and chronic rhinosinusitis in a population-based sample.

Allergy·2016
Same author

Central adiposity, obesity during early adulthood, and pancreatic cancer mortality in a pooled analysis of cohort studies.

Annals of oncology : official journal of the European Society for Medical Oncology·2015
Same author

Extremely low-frequency magnetic fields and survival from childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia: an international follow-up study.

Blood cancer journal·2012

Area of Science:

  • Epidemiology
  • Neuroscience
  • Sociology

Background:

  • Women consistently report higher rates of symptoms, illness, disability, and healthcare utilization compared to men.
  • Previous research indicates gender disparities across various health conditions, necessitating focused investigation into specific conditions like headaches.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate gender differences in headache experiences, focusing on symptom frequency, pain intensity, and duration.
  • To explore gender-based variations in headache-related disability and healthcare seeking behaviors.

Main Methods:

  • A random sample of 10,167 residents from Washington County, Maryland (ages 12-29) were interviewed.
  • Data was collected via a standardized telephone interview as part of a large epidemiologic study on headaches conducted during 1986-87.

Related Experiment Videos

  • Analysis included 6,347 respondents who reported experiencing headaches within four weeks of the interview.

    • Main Results:

    • Women reported few specific symptoms more frequently than men, with highly similar symptom rankings between genders (rs = 0.98).
    • Headache pain intensity and attack duration were systematically greater for women than men.
    • Women were significantly more likely to report recent headache-related disability and seek healthcare services, even after adjusting for headache severity.

    Conclusions:

    • Gender significantly influences headache experience, with women reporting more severe and longer-lasting headaches.
    • Socially determined role perceptions and illness orientations, in conjunction with potential physiological differences, contribute to greater symptom reporting by women.
    • These findings highlight the need for gender-sensitive approaches in headache research and clinical practice.