Journal of women's health
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Journal of women's health · Dec 2019
Menstrual Blood-Derived Mesenchymal Stem Cells: Women's Attitudes, Willingness, and Barriers to Donation of Menstrual Blood.
Background: Menstrual blood contains mesenchymal stem cells (MenSC), considered a potential "off-the-shelf" treatment for a range of diseases and medical conditions. Samples of menstrual blood can be collected painlessly, inexpensively, and as frequently as every month for cell therapy. ⋯ No significant relationship was recognized between willingness to donate menstrual blood with age, history of childbirth or blood donation, menstruation perception, and preferred menstrual hygiene product. Women rated their period experience better after being made aware of the ability to donate menstrual blood, meaning MenSC therapy can be beneficial for donors as well as patients. Conclusions: Considering women's attitudes to MenSC and donation of menstrual blood, the future of MenSC therapy is positive; women are generally willing to donate menstrual blood, independent of age, perception of periods, and history of childbirth and blood donation.
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Journal of women's health · Dec 2019
The Influence of Sex and Gender on Health: How Much Is Being Taught in Medical School Curricula?
Background: Sex is a biological variable linked to our chromosomal complement, while gender refers to one's personal identification as influenced by social, cultural, and personal experience. Both sex and gender and their interactions influence health outcomes. Although this is increasingly clear, we have not yet ensured that the next generation of physicians and physician-scientists is being taught the empirical findings necessary to understand these relationships. ⋯ Trained first-and second-year medical students audited 548 lectures and workshops to determine sex- and gender-based content. Results: Less than 25% of all sessions raised the topic of sex or gender influences on physiology and pathophysiology or the experience of the patient in the health care environment. Only 8.1% of all sessions included an in-depth discussion of sex or gender differences, and these discussions predominantly focused on basic physiology and prevalence and/or incidence of disease, and not on available data on sex- and gender-specific influences on diagnosis, treatment, prognosis, and drug effects. The didactics that included data on sex or gender influences were largely in lectures rather than small group sessions, which are important for the development of critical clinical reasoning skills. Conclusions: A survey-based audit of medical school curricula can inform recommendations for improving the inclusion of data on sex- and gender-based content.
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Journal of women's health · Dec 2019
Sex Differences in Long-Term Clinical Outcomes in Patients Hospitalized for Acute Heart Failure: A Report from the Korean Heart Failure Registry.
Background: Although a better survival rate in women than in men has been reported in heart failure (HF) with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF), the sex-specific prognosis has scarcely been addressed in HF with preserved EF (HFpEF). Thus, this study investigated the sex difference in clinical outcomes in patients with HFpEF, as well as in those with HFrEF. Materials and Methods: We studied clinical outcomes of 2,572 hospitalized patients due to HF (66.8 ± 14.4 years, 49.7% women) in the Korean Heart Failure Registry. ⋯ In 1:1 age-matched population (n = 1,005 in each sex), the long-term mortality was significantly lower in women than men in HFrEF group (p = 0.005), but not in HFpEF group (p = 0.786), while the incidences of composite events were similar between sex irrespective of LVEF (p > 0.05). However, there were no significant associations between sex and clinical outcomes in multivariable analysis (p > 0.05 for each). Conclusions: Sex per se was not the significant factor determining long-term clinical outcomes in HF patients regardless of the LVEF.
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Journal of women's health · Dec 2019
ReviewBreast Cancer Screening and Care Among Black Sexual Minority Women: A Scoping Review of the Literature from 1990 to 2017.
Introduction: Black women are more likely to be diagnosed at later stages of breast cancer compared with White women due to lower frequency of screening and lack of timely follow-up after abnormal screening results. Disparities in breast cancer screening, risk, and mortality are present within both Black women and sexual minority communities; however, there exists limited research concerning breast cancer care among Black sexual minority women. Materials and Methods: This scoping review examines the literature from 1990 to 2017 of the breast cancer care continuum among Black sexual minority women, including behavioral risk factors, screening, treatment, and survivorship. ⋯ Furthermore, some studies noted homophobia from health providers as potential barriers to engagement in care for sexual minority women. Conclusions: The lack of studies concerning Black sexual minority women in breast cancer care indicates the invisibility of a group that experiences multiple marginalized identities. More research is needed to capture the dynamics of the breast cancer care continuum for Black sexual minority women.
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Journal of women's health · Dec 2019
ReviewIncorporating Sex and Gender into Culturally Competent Simulation in Medical Education.
Background and Objectives: Simulation provides a vehicle to introduce sex and gender competent training into the education of medical trainees. Materials and Methods: Using the previously validated Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center Sex and Gender Specific Health PubMed Advanced Search Tool, we reviewed the existing sex- and gender-based medical simulation education literature. A single article specifically addressed the incorporation of sex- and gender-based medicine in the development of simulation-based training. The Society for Academic Emergency Medicine Sex and Gender Interest Group then collaboratively developed recommendations for the incorporation of these concepts into simulation training. Results: Collaboratively developed recommendations were as follows. ⋯ Attitude-based competencies include an understanding of tendencies toward bias in patient assessment and care, which can be addressed in the self-reflection component of a simulation debrief. Skill-based competencies include communication skills, assessing the social context in which a patient is pursuing medical care, and recognition of gender-based cultural models of health and disease. Successful implementation includes specific faculty development, administrative and financial resources, gender-specific simulation equipment and selection of standardized patients, and scenarios that address sex- and gender-based medical care. Conclusion: The adoption of sex and gender competent simulation has the potential to significantly impact medical training and the provision of empathetic and humanistic care while reducing sex- and gender-based health care disparities.