Gender Differences In Length Research Articles

Why Are There So Few Women Medical School Deans? Debunking the Myth That Shorter Tenures Drive Disparities.

Gender disparities among the senior echelons of academic medicine are striking and persistent. The role of medical school dean has been particularly immune to gender diversity, and limited prior research identified women's shorter decanal tenures as a potential driver. The authors assessed gender differences in tenure length of deanships in the current era to elucidate this finding. From October 2020 to June 2021, the authors collected information about medical school deanships that were held from January 1, 2006, to June 30, 2020. All schools were members of the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC). The authors collected data from online public records and augmented their findings via direct outreach to medical schools. They used time-to-event analyses before and after adjustment for interim vs permanent status of the initial appointment, school ownership (public/private), and school size to assess for gender differences in length of deanship tenure during the study period. The unit of analysis was deanships, and the primary outcome was length of deanships measured in years. Authors included data on 528 deanships. Women held 91 (17%) of these terms. Men held the majority of permanent deanships (n = 352 [85%]). A greater percentage of the deanships held by women were interim only (n = 27 [30%]) compared with men (n = 85 [20%]). In unadjusted and adjusted analyses, there were no significant gender differences in length of deanship tenures. Analysis of appointments of AAMC-member medical school deans from 2006 to 2020 revealed that women have remained in their deanships as long as their male counterparts. The myth about women deans' shorter longevity should no longer be promulgated. Academic medicine should consider novel solutions to addressing women's persistent underrepresentation in the dean role, including employing the gender proportionality principle used in the business and legal communities.

El profesorado argentino del Nivel Superior y las tecnologías: una mirada de género en contexto de pandemia

This study analyzes, from a gender perspective, the profile of Argentine university and high school teachers in relation to their perceptions about their digital competences, with the type of digital tools that they incorporate into their practices and their experience in ICT for teaching. This study was developed after a year of emergency remote teaching in Argentina in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. The information was collected from a self-administered questionnaire answered by 1149 teachers at that level. The analysis shows significant gender differences in length of service, in the type of institution to which they belong, in the disciplinary areas where teachers work, in the perception of teachers about their own digital skills, in the experience of use and in the type of digital tools used to mediate teaching.

Gender Difference in Substance Use and Psychiatric Outcomes Among Dually Diagnosed Veterans Treated in Specialized Intensive PTSD Programs

Objectives Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a problem of growing importance among female veterans, which is especially challenging when accompanied by comorbid substance use disorder (SUD). Since women are still a small minority of Veterans Health Administration (VHA) patients, there is concern that outcomes among dually diagnosed women may be worse than among men. Method National program evaluation data were collected at admission and 4 months after discharge from 7,074 dually diagnosed veterans including 203 women (2.9%) treated at 57 specialized intensive VHA PTSD treatment programs between 1993 and 2011. Multiple regression was used to compare clinical change in women and men adjusting for baseline differences. Results Women showed no significant differences from men in measures of substance use or total PTSD symptoms at admission although they were more likely to have experienced sexual trauma and less likely to report combat exposure. With adjustment for these differences, there were no significant gender differences in length of stay, satisfaction with treatment, or measures of change in substance use or total PTSD symptoms 4 months after discharge. Reductions in an index of days of substance use was associated with reduction in total PTSD symptoms among both women (R = 0.33; p = .01) and men (R = 0.44, p < .0001) with no significant gender difference. Conclusion No significant gender differences were observed in substance use or PTSD outcomes, despite the extreme minority status of women in VHA programs. Highly vulnerable women can benefit as much as men, even when treatment is not formally tailored to address gender-specific needs.

Sex, age and socioeconomic inequalities in older people’s unscheduled care

Abstract Background In Scotland, unscheduled care is usually received at hospital accident and emergency (A&amp;E) departments or referral by GPs to medical assessment units (MAU). Almost a quarter attendances are for those aged 65 years+. Demand for unscheduled care will increase as the population ages. This study measures inequalities in unscheduled care presentations among those aged 65 years+. Methods A&amp;E and MAU attendance data between April 2017 and March 2018 for Glasgow residents were analysed. Data were modelled using poisson modelling for outcome measures attendances, rate of attendance and length of stay, adjusting for agegroup, sex and deprivation. A second set of models also adjusted for time of day, month and referral source, including interaction terms. Results While there was a higher number of attendances among females (RR and 95% CI = 0.30 (0.28, 0.32)), and among those aged 65-69 years compared with older ages (RR = 0.03 (0.01, 0.06)), modelling rates showed that males were significantly more likely to attend (RR = 0.14 (0.13, 0.16)) and that likelihood rose with age, eg RR for 85+ years significantly greater than 80-84 years, significantly greater than for 75-79 years etc. There was no gender difference in length of stay but this increased with increasing age. Attendance was significantly more likely for those living in the most deprived quintile of deprivation (RR = 0.30 (0.27, 0.34) compared with the most affluent quintile). SES inequalities in attendance and length of stay became less pronounced with increasing age. Referrals via 999 emergency services increased with age while referrals by GP and NHS24 reduced with age. Attendance was more likely in December (RR = 0.15 (0.11, 0.18)) and likelihood of a morning attendance reduced significantly with increasing age and deprivation. Conclusions Inequalities in attendance, length of stay and methods of referral are observed which should be considered when planning to meet the demand for unscheduled care. Key messages Age, sex and socioeconomic inequalities in unscheduled care exist even at the oldest ages. When planning to meet the demand of future unscheduled care, patterns of current use and population projections should be considered in tandem.

Epidemiology of Pediatric Acute Pancreatitis in Taiwan: A Nationwide Population-based Study.

ABSTRACTObjective:Pediatric acute pancreatitis (AP) may be different from adult AP in various respects. This study focuses on the epidemiology and medical resource use of pediatric AP in Taiwan.Methods:Patients aged 0 to 18 years with AP were identified from the Taiwan National Health Insurance Research Database based on the International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision code of AP 577.0. The medical resource use was measured by length of hospital stay and hospital charges.Results:Between 2000 and 2013, a total of 2127 inpatient cases of pediatric AP were collected, which represented a hospitalization rate of 2.83 per 100,000 population. The incidence by age had 2 peaks, the first peak was at age 4 to 5 years old, and the second one started rising from 12 to 13 years old until adulthood. The incidence by year increased from 2.33 to 3.07 cases per 100,000 population during the study period. The average hospital stay is steady, but the medical cost is increasing. Girls have longer hospital stays, higher medical expenditures, more use of endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography possibly due to more comorbidities with biliary tract diseases than boys (P < 0.05). The mortality in cases of AP is mostly associated with systemic diseases rather than AP itself.Conclusions:The incidence of pediatric AP in Taiwan is in a rising trend. There are gender differences in length of hospital stay, medical costs, use of endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography and comorbidities.

Basic self-care in older acute medical in-patients: a retrospective cohort study.

Background:Older patients hospitalized for acute illness are vulnerable to decline in basic self-care. This functional decline determines future health needs and can lead to negative health outcomes.Aim:To compare basic self-care needs in older acute medical in-patients between admission and discharge using the Nursing Patient Classification System data.Design:Single-center, observational, and retrospective cohort study.Methods:Data were collected between April 2015 and April 2016 and included 384 patients aged 65 or older admitted to a medical ward of a 580-bed teaching hospital in Portugal. Significant differences between groups of patients were assessed by analysis of variance and Kruskal–Wallis for continuous variables and by chi-squared test for categorical variables. Significant changes in the level of dependence were analyzed using McNemar–Bowker test.Results:The mean age of the patients was 79.93 years (SD = 7.49) and the majority were women (57.3%). There were no gender differences in length of stay. Oldest-old patients presented higher percentages of dependence on basic self-care, both at admission and at discharge. Younger-old patients improves in hygiene and personal care, toilet use, and movement (P < .01). However, it is also this group of patients who have the highest percentages of deterioration in eating (P = .129), toilet use, and movement (P < .001).Conclusion:All patients are vulnerable to decline in basic self-care regardless their age. Use Nursing Patient Classification Systems to track progress in basic self-care between admission and discharge in older acute medical patients is an innovative and valid methodology. Based on the needs of nursing care, we were able to characterize older patients’ needs and achieve health outcomes.

Gender and international clinician educators

ObjectivesTo describe gender differences of international clinician educators (CEs) and leaders, and CEs’ perceptions by gender of preparation, roles, rewards and factors affecting job satisfaction and retention in emerging international...

Should surgical novices trade their retractors for joysticks? Videogame experience decreases the time needed to acquire surgical skills

Video game experience (VGE) has been identified as a possible predictive factor for surgical skill. We hypothesized that surgical novices with previous VGE would acquire new surgical skills faster than those without. Fourth-year medical students (M4) and first-year surgical residents (PG-1) completed a survey asking about standard demographic data and previous VGE. Gamers had high VGE, defined as more than 3 h per week of videogame playing. Nongamers had little or no VGE. Both groups trained to proficiency on two tasks (AcquirePlace and Traversal) of the MIST-VR simulator, with proficiency defined as meeting previously validated criteria on two consecutive trials. The number of trials required to achieve proficiency for each task was recorded. The 26 participants included 11 M4s and 15 PG-1s: 17 males (8 gamers/9 nongamers) and 9 females (3 gamers/6 nongamers), mean age 27.8 years. There were no differences in time to proficiency between the M4 and PG-1 residents, and there were no significant differences in the relative number of gamers per gender. All participants eventually met proficiency criteria. The 11 gamers reached proficiency more quickly than the 15 nongamers (median 0 trials versus 6 trials, p = 0.01). Gamers scored lower than nongamers on their initial attempts. Women overall took longer to reach proficiency than did men (median 10 trials versus 0 trials, p = 0.002). When stratified according to VGE, female nongamers took longer to reach proficiency than male nongamers (median 11 trials versus 1 trial, p = 0.006) but among gamers, there was no difference between females and males (median 0 trials versus 0.5 trials, NS). Previous VGE shortens time to achieve proficiency on two tasks on a validated surgical simulator. The possibility that VGE may ameliorate gender differences in length of time required to acquire surgical skills should be explored further.

The progress of female police officers?

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to establish empirically whether there is any foundation in the premise that female officers' lesser tenure and/or lower levels of commitment than men explain their lack of career progress. Although the number of women in UK police forces has grown rapidly, it appears that they continue to be under‐represented in senior ranks.Design/methodology/approachUsing whole population surveys of two county police forces in the UK the paper compares the promotion of men and women police officers controlling for tenure. The paper then compares the organisational commitment of male and female officers and analyses whether female officers experience managerial and organisational influences that undermine their organisational commitment compared to men.FindingsThe findings refute some of the widespread beliefs about reasons for female officers' lack of progress in their policing careers since the analysis indicates that gender differences in length of tenure and organisational commitment can be discounted as possible explanations for lack of advancement in these two police forces. Overall, the results clearly show that female officers are just as committed as male officers and thus cannot be justified as a reason for lack of career progression.Research limitations/implicationsIt is accepted that survey methods such as ours do not capture the entirety of employee feelings and responses since they tend to homogenise male and female working experiences. However, survey methods do have the advantage that it is possible to generalise from the results and thus these two studies allow us to suggest that our findings can be viewed as providing insights to other UK police forces.Practical implicationsThe relatively low levels of organisational commitment found should be a cause for concern for senior managers in the Police. The key importance that management has in influencing organisational commitment has been shown by our findings and this indicates the importance of the current Police Leadership Development Board's agenda to improve workforce management skills to encourage transformational leadership styles.Originality/valueThe paper make an original contribution by refuting widely held assumptions about the reasons for under‐representation of female officers in senior ranks. It also contributes to the sparse literature that examines organisational commitment in the police and its antecedents.

Functioning and Health Service Use Among Elderly Nursing Home Residents With Alcohol Use Disorders: Findings From The National Nursing Home Survey

<h3>Objective</h3> The author asked whether older nursing home residents with alcohol use disorders differ from demographically-matched residents without alcohol use disorders on functioning, admission characteristics, and health services use. <h3>Method</h3> National Nursing Home Survey data were used to compare nursing home residents with alcohol use disorders (N = 216) with demographically-matched residents without alcohol use disorders (N = 216) on functioning, admission characteristics, and health services use. <h3>Results</h3> Residents with alcohol use disorders functioned somewhat better than did residents in the demographically-matched sample group, as indicated by performance of basic activities of daily living. However, they were significantly more likely to have lived alone before admission and to have obtained mental health and social services. There was a significant group × gender interaction on length of stay: men with alcohol use disorders had shorter lengths of stay than did men without alcohol use disorders; women with alcohol use disorders had longer lengths of stay than did women without such disorders. <h3>Conclusions</h3> Having fewer social resources may contribute to elevated admission risk and need for mental health and social services among older nursing home residents who have alcohol use disorders. Duration and severity of alcohol problems may help explain gender differences in length of stay among these residents.

Functioning and Health Service Use Among Elderly Nursing Home Residents With Alcohol Use Disorders: Findings From The National Nursing Home Survey

The author asked whether older nursing home residents with alcohol use disorders differ from demographically-matched residents without alcohol use disorders on functioning, admission characteristics, and health services use. National Nursing Home Survey data were used to compare nursing home residents with alcohol use disorders (N=216) with demographically-matched residents without alcohol use disorders (N=216) on functioning, admission characteristics, and health services use. Residents with alcohol use disorders functioned somewhat better than did residents in the demographically-matched sample group, as indicated by performance of basic activities of daily living. However, they were significantly more likely to have lived alone before admission and to have obtained mental health and social services. There was a significant group x gender interaction on length of stay: men with alcohol use disorders had shorter lengths of stay than did men without alcohol use disorders; women with alcohol use disorders had longer lengths of stay than did women without such disorders. Having fewer social resources may contribute to elevated admission risk and need for mental health and social services among older nursing home residents who have alcohol use disorders. Duration and severity of alcohol problems may help explain gender differences in length of stay among these residents.

Telomeric length varies with age and polymorphisms of the MAOA gene promoter in peripheral blood cells obtained from a community in Taiwan

Telomere shortening and increased MAOA gene activity both occur with aging. We undertook to develop a predictive model of telomere shortening and to investigate the possible association between MAOA gene promoter polymorphisms and telomere length as influenced by age and gender. A stratified random household sample was selected from a community in southern Taiwan. Of 1231 subjects attending our health-screening program, 441 agreed to have additional venous blood withdrawn for DNA extraction and genetic study. Exactly 433 subjects completed the questionnaires and genetic analysis. Their telomere lengths were distributed (6.4-11.63 kb). The rate of shortening per year was 69 base pairs, and the gender difference in length was not statistically significant (F = 0.091, P = 0.763). The lognormal distribution of telomere lengths was linear. The polynomial regression analysis showed Ln (telomere length) = -2.57-0.007 x age - 0.34 MAOA (adjusted R-square = 0.60). The gender effect on telomere length was not statistically significant (P = 0.52). No interaction effects were found between age, gender and MAOA gene polymorphisms. The high-activity allele of the MAOA promoter polymorphisms were negatively associated with telomere length (P = 0.013). Structural equation modeling confirmed the null model structure. The present data suggest that high-activity MAOA promoter gene polymorphisms, as in aging, are a risk factor for telomeric shortening. Central nervous system serotonergic activity correlates with human aggressive behavior and depression in many studies, and the MAOA promoter gene may also serve as a clinical marker in the treatment of cardiovascular disease. The predictive model and table of telomere length presented in this study will provide a quick reference for future studies.

Using alumni research to assess a veterinary curriculum and alumni employment and reward patterns.

The purpose of the study was to obtain an outcomes assessment of the professional degree program of a veterinary college and to determine whether recently published national gender differences were true for a program that has always been predominantly female. A survey was developed and mailed to all alumni of the veterinary degree program at North Carolina State University. Anonymous responses were collected by an independent organization for summation. Results were expressed numerically where possible, although the survey included numerous opportunities for textual responses. Responses were stratified by year of graduation, in five-year increments, and by gender of the respondents. Sixty-one percent of graduates remained within North Carolina. While most of the prerequisite courses were considered useful preparation for the curriculum, physics and calculus were exceptions. Over half the alumni thought time allocations to specific courses were appropriate. However, there were substantial differences between courses. The alumni were satisfied with most aspects of the training program, although there were differences between various components. There were substantial gender differences in length of first employment, salaries, species treated, practice ownership and type of ownership, and career satisfaction. Most alumni work in small animal private clinical practice. Ninety-four percent were employed within three months of graduating. Ninety-five percent did no work with the state's predominant agricultural species. Nineteen percent of alumni were either unsure, probably would not, or definitely would not become a veterinarian if they could choose again. The survey was a tremendously valuable source of information. Results provided support for curricular revision. The survey also provided comparative data in relation to national norms, where such norms were available. Unfortunately, few reports of this type are available, making inter-institutional comparisons difficult. The Association of American Veterinary Medical Colleges could assist with standardizing the process of outcomes assessment.

Impact of pregnancy on gender differences in sickness absence.

Women in general have a higher sickness absence than men, and sickness absence is particularly high among pregnant women. To study the level of male sickness absence as compared to female, including and excluding pregnant women. Studies of incidence and length of sickness absence exceeding 7 days using population-based sick-leave records. The community of Linköping, Sweden, 117,000 inhabitants. Subjects included in the analysis were all men and women aged 16-44 who in 1985 or 1986 had at least one sick-leave spell exceeding 7 days. Pregnant women had a very high sickness absence. When pregnant women were excluded, the female sick-leave rate decreased from 0.18 (95% C.I. 0.17-0.18) to 0.15 (95% C.I. 0.15-0.16) for all women. The corresponding male sick-leave rate was 0.12 (95% c.i. 0.12-0.13). Gender differences in length of sickness absence decreased to the same extent. The results were similar when restricting the analysis to employed persons. The decrease varied a little with occupational group and was largest in the age-group 25-34. When pregnant women were excluded the excess female sick-leave rate was halved, but still remained 25% higher than the male. The impact of excluding pregnant women was highest in the age group 25-34, where the fertility-rate was highest. Although only 5% of all women aged 16-44 were pregnant, they had a large impact on gender differences in sickness absence.