ArticlePloS one2026
Measured treatment differences between sexes and genders: A scoping review.
Article in PloS one, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
0 citing papers in PubMed.
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Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
2 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundSex and gender-based inequality is found throughout medicine. Although there has been significant research in gender disparities affecting healthcare professionals, there is a lack of research into gender differences in the treatment of patients. Despite recognition of systemic issues, recent empirical evidence on how gender influences actual treatment decisions remains fragmented across specialties. A preliminary search of MEDLINE, the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews and JBI (Joanna Briggs institute) Evidence Synthesis was conducted and no current or underway systematic reviews or scoping reviews on the topic were identified.
methodsStudies in English published between 2018 and 2023 were included. Only research which studied measurable differences in the care received by patients of different sexes or genders was included. Both authors independently screened the literature against the a priori defined eligibility criteria. A thematic synthesis approach was used and results summarised qualitatively.
resultsForty-one papers were included in this review. Of the thirty-eight retrospective case series, thirty-three found a significant difference between the treatment of male and female patients. Of the twenty-nine case series using a multivariate analysis, twenty-five studies found a significant difference in treatment between male and female patients.
conclusionsThe results of this review indicate that men and women are frequently treated differently by healthcare systems. During 2018-2023, five hundred and fifty-one papers were published which studied gender-based differences in opportunities given to healthcare professionals, but only forty-one studying the treatment given to patients. This highlights an area of unmet research need.
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