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Open research questions in Sex and Gender in Healthcare

307 gap statements mined from Sex and Gender in Healthcare papers in our 7.9M-paper local library, which holds 2,063 papers on the topic — drawn mostly from each paper's own stated research gap, future-work, challenge and limitation notes, and its abstract. The ones listed below are a selection still marked open; each names the study that raised it, with a DOI link where the paper has one.

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What the literature leaves open

  • Future research should investigate whether the associations identified here are explained by differences in patient disclosure, physician recording practice, or differences in the integration of specialist information into primary care records, and whether comparable patterns are observed in other health systems.

    Association Between General Practitioner’s Sex and Documented Diagnoses of Female-Specific Disorders in German Primary Care: A Large Matched Cross-Sectional Study · 2026 · DOI

  • While the current study is limited by the way past researchers have measured gender, we hope that the continued robust, though modest advantage of females in decoding affective states points to gender being an important variable to quantify and analyze when investigating this skill.

    Gender and Accuracy in Decoding Affect Cues: A Meta-Analysis · 2025 · DOI

  • One limitation of this approach is that only one reviewer conducted the full-text screening and the categorization of the retrieved articles.

    Applicability of Existing Gender Scores for German Clinical Research Data: Scoping Review and Data Mapping · 2025 · DOI

  • Across the life course, women experience distinct health needs with significant implications for health and wellbeing, yet persistent gaps in evidence and data continue to reinforce inequities.

    A Crowdsourced Topic Map and Future Research Agenda for Women’s Health · 2026 · DOI

  • Sex-based differences in outcomes after oncological surgery remain underexplored despite growing interest in personalized and equitable cancer care.

    Sex-based differences in mortality and failure to rescue after major gastrointestinal cancer resections: real-world evidence from a nationwide cohort · 2026 · DOI

  • Heart disease (HD) is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality globally, yet it remains understudied, underdiagnosed and undertreated in women.

    Women’s cardiovascular health in Aotearoa New Zealand: insights from a systematic literature review · 2026 · DOI

  • Data availability The current manuscript is a computational study, so no data have been generated for this manuscript.

    Pan-tissue transcriptome analysis reveals sex-dimorphic human aging · 2025 · DOI

  • Sex differences have not been fully explored for certain risk factors or by age or age-related factors, such as menopause.

    Variations in sex differences in major cardiometabolic risk factors by age and menopause status: results from the UK Biobank · 2025 · DOI

  • Closing the gender gap in research and clinical practice is imperative for developing safer, more effective treatments for women.

    Bridging the Gender Gap in Cardiovascular Medicine: Addressing Drug Intolerances and Personalized Care for Women with Angina/Ischemia with Non-Obstructive Coronary Artery Disease · 2024 · DOI

  • Several GI and hepatological disorders are either more prevalent in women or present unique diagnostic and therapeutic challenges in this population. At the same time, women physicians in gastroenterology encounter distinctive professional barriers that shape both their careers and the evolving landscape of the speciality.

    Gastroenterology through a gender lens: Clinical and professional perspectives · 2026 · DOI

  • The mechanisms underlying sex differences in immune responses are not fully understood. The role of sex chromosomes in regulating immune responses is not well defined.

    Highlight on Dr. Rhonda Voskuhl: a pioneer in the exploration of sex differences in the immune response · 2026 · DOI

  • Future research should focus on analyzing data according to sex/age as the primary analysis. Disaggregating data by sex and age is essential for accurate analysis and understanding the true relationship between a predictor and outcome.

    Importance of integrating biological sex and age analyses in health research · 2026 · DOI

  • The traditional statistical approach to sex and/or age differences is to consider them as confounders, which can lead to inaccurate findings. There is a need to propose a new approach to analyzing data, where sex and age are viewed as variables of importance to the research question.

    Importance of integrating biological sex and age analyses in health research · 2026 · DOI

  • Sex and gender are inconsistently and inadequately integrated into biomedical research. The adoption of sex- and gender-responsive standards is necessary for translating research into practice. Persistent gaps in implementation remain, despite progress in sex and gender research.

    Twenty years of sex and gender science in health research: a policy statement from the Organization for the Study of Sex Differences · 2026 · DOI

  • As a result, key aspects of female immune aging, such as menopausal transition, remain poorly characterized, hindering progress towards personalized medicine.

    The problem with one-size-fits-all medicine: Biological sex and the aging immune system · 2026 · DOI

  • The attention about sex disparities in Cardiology has grown in the last few years, however, to date, few data are available about potential gender-related disparities in an unselected population admitted to a modern intensive cardiac care unit (ICCU).

    Gender impact on survival in an unselected population admitted to a modern intensive cardiac care unit · 2025 · DOI

  • Adoption and enforcement of sex and gender research standards remain variable across funders and journals worldwide. Barriers to implementation include limited time, expertise, and capacity across researchers, reviewers, and editorial workflows. Policy coverage varies among major funders, with some not requesting integration of sex/gender analysis into research design.

    Twenty years of sex and gender science in health research: a policy statement from the Organization for the Study of Sex Differences · 2026 · DOI

  • The under-representation of women in clinical studies remains a major issue. The exclusion of women from clinical studies can lead to underrepresentation in trial data and ultimately harm equity in implementation of medical interventions.

    Science policies and practice of including and excluding women from clinical studies: focus on cardiovascular research · 2026 · DOI

  • Limited access to healthcare and health system policies that fail to integrate gender perspectives exacerbate health disparities. Stigma and discrimination against marginalized populations, including the transgender community, contribute to poor health outcomes.

    Gender as a determinant of health: a narrative review from a public health perspective · 2026 · DOI

  • The cardiology workforce itself remains highly gender imbalanced, - Male physiology has historically been treated as the normative reference, while female physiology is addressed less consistently, - Research into conditions that disproportionally impact women has been…

    The gender data gap in women’s cardiovascular health research in Aotearoa New Zealand: a call to action · 2026 · DOI

  • Addressing the gender data gap in Aotearoa New Zealand's cardiovascular research landscape requires a co-ordinated methodological and structural response, - Efforts are being made to champion research…

    The gender data gap in women’s cardiovascular health research in Aotearoa New Zealand: a call to action · 2026 · DOI

  • Finally, our literature search identified that published manuscripts preferentially reported sex (versus gender) and rarely addressed specific populations…

    Gender equality and equity in intensive care: an international Delphi consensus study · 2026 · DOI

  • Future research should examine the scale’s effectiveness in longitudinal studies tracking knowledge development over time, and in intervention studies evaluating whether addressing misconceptions leads to more…

    Health-Related Gender Knowledge: Scale Development and Validation in Spanish Nursing Students · 2025 · DOI

  • These findings highlight a potential disparity in the diagnostic and therapeutic approach between sexes, warranting further investigation to ensure equitable care in patients with ACS.

    Unveiling the veil of ISIS: differences in the investigation and treatment of chest pain patients according to sex: a study from a reference cardiology hospital in Brazil · 2025 · DOI

  • Adherence to self-care behaviors for CVD risk management varied widely, based on gender-related factors.

    Influence of Sex and Gender on Adherence to Self-care Behaviors for Cardiovascular Disease Risk Management in the Global Context · 2025 · DOI

Most-cited papers in Sex and Gender in Healthcare

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Open questions raised by papers listed on this page include: (1) Sex-based differences in outcomes after oncological surgery remain underexplored despite growing interest in personalized and equitable cancer care (“Sex-based differences in mortality and failure to rescue after major…”, 2026); (2) Heart disease (HD) is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality globally, yet it remains understudied, underdiagnosed and undertreated in women (“Women’s cardiovascular health in Aotearoa New Zealand: insights from a…”, 2026); (3) The mechanisms underlying sex differences in immune responses are not fully understood (“Highlight on Dr. Rhonda Voskuhl: a pioneer in the exploration of sex…”, 2026); (4) Future research should focus on analyzing data according to sex/age as the primary analysis (“Importance of integrating biological sex and age analyses in health research”, 2026); (5) Sex differences have not been fully explored for certain risk factors or by age or age-related factors, such as menopause (“Variations in sex differences in major cardiometabolic risk factors by age and…”, 2025). 307 gap statements have been mined from Sex and Gender in Healthcare papers in our 7.9M-paper local library, which holds 2,063 papers on the topic; the gaps come from whichever of those papers state one. They are mostly the research gaps the authors state and the papers' abstracts, plus future-work, limitations and challenges passages. The ones listed below are a selection still marked open; each names the study that raised it, with a DOI link where the paper has one, so you can read the original claim in context.

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