Gender-responsive infectious disease models: Guidelines and systematic scoping review

Area of Science:

• Epidemiology
• Mathematical Modeling
• Public Health

Background:

• Sex and gender significantly impact infectious disease outcomes via biological and social pathways.
• Existing infectious disease models often neglect the influence of gender norms, roles, and behaviors on disease exposure and care access.

Purpose of the Study:

• To propose structured guidelines for developing gender-responsive infectious disease models.
• To adapt an established monitoring and evaluation framework for sex/gender considerations in epidemiological models.

Main Methods:

• Developed recommendations for sex/gender-responsive modeling, including data stratification and contextualization.
• Conducted a scoping review of HIV, COVID-19, and malaria literature using the developed criteria.

Main Results:

• 45 studies met inclusion criteria, predominantly modeling HIV using compartmental or agent-based approaches.
• Most studies incorporated additional social stratifiers like sexual orientation or occupation.
• Contextual factors such as healthcare access, stigma, and gender norms were discussed.

Conclusions:

• Gender-responsive infectious disease modeling is feasible but not widely implemented outside of sexually transmitted infections.
• Intersectional, context-specific modeling can identify health disparities and inform equitable interventions.
• The proposed guidelines can be adapted to address broader health disparities.