Man flu is not a thing - Gender-specific secondary analysis of a prospective randomized-controlled trial for acute rhinosinusitis.
J Psychosom Res
; 163: 111047, 2022 12.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-36228432
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND:
'Man flu' is a popular term to describe hypersensitivity to acute rhinosinusitis (ARS) in men. While this pop-cultural description may influence the social perspective of ARS, so far, no prospective observational data on the gender-specific natural development of ARS is available.METHODS:
Secondary data analyses were performed from the placebo arm of a prospective, interventional phase IV clinical trial. Objective measurement of ARS symptoms were assessed with the Major Symptom Score (MSS), a clinician-rated assessment tool. The Sino-Nasal Outcome Test-22 (SNOT-22) was used for symptom self-report. Repeated measures analysis of variance (ANOVA) with gender as a group variable were used to investigate changes in MMS and SNOT-22 total score and subscales over time.RESULTS:
While MMS scores did not differ at baseline, women showed a significantly greater reduction than men with a medium effect size (p = .040) over time. In the patient-reported symptom score, women showed a significantly higher symptom load at baseline (p = .038), but also a significantly faster subjective improvement of symptoms than men during the course of time with a medium effect size (p = .020). However, when separately assessing the SNOT-22 subscales, a significant time*gender effect was only found for emotional symptoms (p = .047). No gender effect was found for neither nasal, otological, or sleep symptoms (all p > .05).DISCUSSION:
Although a certain gender difference was found both in the clinician- as well as patient-rated ARS symptoms, the hypothesis of a 'man flu' should be disregarded. Gender differences in ARS symptomatology should be carefully evaluated without stigmatizing symptom distress based on gender perceptions.
Texto completo:
1
Coleções:
01-internacional
Base de dados:
MEDLINE
Assunto principal:
Sinusite
/
Rinite
Tipo de estudo:
Clinical_trials
/
Diagnostic_studies
Limite:
Female
/
Humans
/
Male
Idioma:
En
Ano de publicação:
2022
Tipo de documento:
Article