[Equality across ages : addressing gender discrimination among older patients]

The aim of this article is to draw attention to sex- and gender-related differences in the management of elderly patients. This issue is illustrated with two diseases linked to gender and sex: osteoporosis and high blood pressure. On one hand, patients of the sex less affected by the disease may feel less concerned; on the other hand, these patients are at greater risk of being under-diagnosed by medical and nursing staff. In addition, studies tend to overlook patients of the less-affected sex, resulting in guidelines that do not take account of sex or gender specific characteristics. There is even less literature on gender-related disparities in care in the elderly population than in the young, but it can be assumed that this risk of disparities exists even more in relation to specificities in diagnosis and care of elderly patients.