A synoptic inventory of needs for research on women and tropical parasitic diseases. II. Gender-related biases in the diagnosis and morbidity assessment of schistosomiasis in women

Abstract

A synoptic inventory developed by us (Feldmeier and Krantz, 1993) was used for systematically reviewing existing data as to how and to what degree gender- and sex-related factors influence the validity of the diagnosis of schistosomiasis in women. Diagnostic sectors comprising survey methodology, parasitological methods, immunodiagnosis, detection of pathology and diagnosis of schistosomiasis in the female genital tract have thus been scrutinized. In this way we have identified important gaps in the scientific knowledge of diagnosis of an important parasitic infection. Socio-cultural and gender-related determinants have never been studied systematically, and it is mostly by circumstantial evidence that we can point out potential biases, sometimes for sex but more often for gender, in much of the published material concerning diagnostic categories suitable for schistosomiasis. These errors in diagnostic procedures and the ensuing lack of validity deserve attention from the fields of biomedicine and social science, preferably in a collaborative effort.