Gender Differences In Risk Research Articles

Intakes of selected food groups and beverages and adult acute myeloid leukemia

Few studies have explored the association between diet and adult acute myeloid leukemia (AML). In a hospital-based case–control study among 111 cases and 439 controls, AML risk was negatively associated with milk intake among women (OR 0.25, 95% CI 0.08–0.73) and tea (OR 0.50, 95% CI 0.23–1.09), and positively associated among women with beer (OR 2.48, 95% CI 1.05–5.85), wine (OR 2.32, 95% CI 1.05–5.09), and beef (OR 4.78, 95% CI 1.35–16.94). Our findings support a role of diet in adult AML; however, further research is needed to explore gender differences in risk.

Gender, Financial Risk, and Probability Weights

Women are commonly stereotyped as more risk averse than men in financial decision making. In this paper we examine whether this stereotype reflects gender differences in actual risk-taking behavior by means of a laboratory experiment with monetary incentives. Gender differences in risk taking may be due to differences in valuations of outcomes or in probability weights. The results of our experiment indicate that value functions do not differ significantly between men and women. Men and women differ in their probability weighting schemes, however. In general, women tend to be less sensitive to probability changes. They also tend to underestimate large probabilities of gains more strongly than do men. This effect is particularly pronounced when the decisions are framed in investment terms. As a result, women appear to be more risk averse than men in specific circumstances.

Gender differences in associations between depressive symptoms and patterns of substance use and risky sexual behavior among a nationally representative sample of U.S. adolescents

This study uses a cluster analysis of adolescents, based on their substance use and sexual risk behaviors, to 1) examine associations between risk behavior patterns and depressive symptoms, stratified by gender, and 2) examine gender differences in risk for depression. Data are from a nationally representative survey of over 20,000 U.S. adolescents. Logistic regression was used to examine the associations between 16 risk behavior patterns and current depressive symptoms by gender. Compared to abstention, involvement in common adolescent risk behaviors (drinking, smoking, and sexual intercourse) was associated with increased odds of depressive symptoms in both sexes. However, sex differences in depressive symptoms vary by risk behavior pattern. There were no differences in odds for depressive symptoms between abstaining male and female adolescents (OR = 1.07, 95% CI 0.70-1.62). There were also few sex differences in odds of depressive symptoms within the highest-risk behavior profiles. Among adolescents showing light and moderate risk behavior patterns, females experienced significantly more depressive symptoms than males. Adolescents who engage in risk behaviors are at increased risk for depressive symptoms. Girls engaging in low and moderate substance use and sexual activity experience more depressive symptoms than boys with similar behavior. Screening for depression is indicated for female adolescents engaging in even experimental risk behaviors.

Epidemiology of DSM-IV Insomnia in Adolescence: Lifetime Prevalence, Chronicity, and an Emergent Gender Difference

The confluence of sleep/wake cycle and circadian rhythm changes that accompany pubertal development and the social and emotional developmental tasks of adolescence may create a period of substantial risk for development of insomnia. Although poor sleep affects cognitive performance and is associated with poor emotional and physical health, epidemiologic studies among adolescents have been limited. In this first epidemiologic study of insomnia defined by Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition (DSM-IV) criteria in a US sample of adolescents, we estimated lifetime prevalence of insomnia, examined chronicity and onset, and explored the role of pubertal development. Data come from a random sample of 1014 adolescents who were 13 to 16 years of age, selected from households in a 400000-member health maintenance organization encompassing metropolitan Detroit. Response rate was 71.2%. The main outcome measured was DSM-IV-defined insomnia. Lifetime prevalence of insomnia was 10.7%. A total of 88% of adolescents with a history of insomnia reported current insomnia. The median age of onset of insomnia was 11. Of those with insomnia, 52.8% had a comorbid psychiatric disorder. In exploratory analyses of insomnia and pubertal development, onset of menses was associated with a 2.75-fold increased risk for insomnia. There was no difference in risk for insomnia among girls before menses onset relative to boys, but a difference emerged after menses onset. In contrast, maturational development was not associated with insomnia in boys. Insomnia seems to be common and chronic among adolescents. The often found gender difference in risk for insomnia seems to emerge in association with onset of menses.

Significantly reduced spontaneous thrombolytic activity in older men: a possible explanation for the gender differences in risk of acute coronary syndromes

Background Although incidence of arterial thrombotic events increases with advancing age, the mechanism of such increased risk is poorly understood. There is also a gender difference; coronary heart disease is more common in men than women. The aim of the present study was to investigate the possible contribution from platelet reactivity and spontaneous thrombolysis, determinants of arterial thrombosis, to the increased risk of thromboembolism in aging, but otherwise healthy subjects. Method One hundred and forty-five normal subjects (61 men, 82 women) of age between 19 and 77 years were grouped into groups of young (<30 years); middle aged (31–50 years), and older (>51 years), according to their gender and body mass index (BMI). A new in vitro test [Gorog Thrombosis Test (GTT)] was used to measure in sequence both platelet reactivity [occlusion time (OT)] and spontaneous thrombolysis [lysis time (LT)] from one non-anticoagulated blood sample. Result OT in all women was 315±9.2 s (mean±S.E.M.), in all men OT was 300±10.6 s. The mean LT in all women was 2557±201.5 s, and in all men LT was 2493±198.6 s. Advanced age did not enhance platelet reactivity (OT), but increased BMI did ( P=0.039). Spontaneous thrombolysis (LT) was impaired in older men but not in women (difference between young vs. middle age: P=0.019; young vs. older: P=0.0002). Conclusion Our findings suggest that in men, spontaneous thrombolytic activity is reduced with age, and this may explain the increased frequency and severity of thromboembolic events. Interestingly, in women, spontaneous thrombolytic activity did not change after menopause.

Suicide attempts associated with externalizing psychopathology in an epidemiological sample.

Borrowing from recent dimensional models of psychopathology, the authors conducted analyses that optimized the common variance shared by internalizing (depression, anxiety) and externalizing (antisocial personality, substance dependence) disorders in statistically predicting suicidal behaviors. These relationships were analyzed in a large epidemiological sample, thus allowing for the examination of gender differences in risk for suicide attempts associated with psychopathology. The data were obtained from the Colorado Social Health Survey. Participants (N=4,745) were a community sample recruited by household address. Structured clinical interviews were used to obtain lifetime diagnostic and symptom count information. Symptom counts were included in a factor analysis that yielded two main dimensions of psychopathology: internalizing and externalizing. These factors were used in hierarchical logistic regression analyses to predict history of suicide attempts associated with the presence of internalizing symptoms, externalizing symptoms, and comorbid internalizing and externalizing symptoms. After the investigators controlled for the presence of internalizing symptoms and the comorbidity of internalizing and externalizing symptoms, externalizing symptoms were related to suicidal behavior in both men and women, although comorbidity was most predictive of suicide attempts among women, compared to men. Suicidal behavior among individuals with externalizing symptoms is not necessarily a result of comorbid depressive or other internalizing disorder. Thus, persons exhibiting antisocial behaviors should receive rigorous assessment for suicidal ideation and behavior.

Masculinity, infertility, stigma and media reports

There is growing concern about the health of men in the developed West. Compared with women they have higher rates of morbidity and mortality and are less likely to seek out and employ medical services. Several authors have drawn on social constructionist models, such as the concept of hegemonic masculinity, to account for these gender differences in risk and behaviour. One might anticipate that certain conditions, such as male infertility, would be perceived as posing a particular threat to conventional views of masculinity. There is some support for this, although there is little research into the social construction of male infertility. In this study Discourse Analysis was employed to analyse newspaper accounts of a reported decline in sperm counts in order to study the way in which infertility and masculinity were represented and constructed in the media. The results indicate a construction of fertility as being in crisis and of male infertility as conflated with impotence. Men were positioned as vulnerable and threatened by forces outside their control. The accounts drew on a range of stereotypically masculine reference points, such as warfare and mechanical analogies. These results are consistent with concepts of hegemonic masculinity and suggest that men are offered a highly restricted set of options in terms of perceiving and representing their bodies and their health.

Sex, drugs and arrhythmia: are gender differences in risk of torsades de pointes simply a matter of testosterone?

See article by Liu et al. \[4\] (pages 28–36) in this issue. As highlighted by a recent ‘Spotlight’ issue of Cardiovascular Research [1], the existence of major differences between men and women in the function and pathophysiology of the cardiovascular system implicates the need for gender-specific optimisation of patient treatment. One key gender difference resides in the electrocardiogram: it has long been known that women have higher resting heart rates than men, but that the rate-corrected QT interval (QTc) is longer in women (by 2–6%) [2,3]. As will be discussed below, this difference is an important factor in sex-linked differences in pro-arrhythmic risk, and its basis is the subject of an article in this edition of the journal by Liu et al. [4]. Women are at significantly greater risk than men of developing the potentially lethal ventricular tachyarrhythmia torsades de pointes in response to certain drugs that prolong ventricular repolarisation [3,5–7]. Excessive prolongation of ventricular repolarisation, known as the long QT syndrome owing to the increase in duration of the QTc interval, is thought to favour the generation of early after depolarisations (EADs), cellular proarrythmic events that, with the appropriate dispersion of repolarisation, in turn may initiate torsades de pointes [8–10]. Long QT syndrome can be either inherited through mutations in ion channels or, as alluded to above, acquired through administration of drugs that block cardiac K+ channels (in particular channels responsible for the rapid delayed rectifier current, I Kr) [8,9,11,12]. Female gender is also an independent risk factor for the incidence of syncope and sudden death in the inherited long QT syndrome [3]. The basis for the gender difference in risk of torsades de pointes is unclear, but is likely to reflect the influence of sex hormones on ventricular repolarisation. In … * Corresponding author. Tel.: +44-117-928-9187; fax: +44-117-928-8923.

Are Peasants Risk‐Averse Decision Makers?

Les AA. se proposent d'evaluer l'approche qui explique le conservatisme culturel de la petite agriculture de subsistance par la rationalite d'une analyse cout-benefice effectuee par les paysans, ou les individus prennent des decisions en fonction d'un comportement d'aversion au risque en raison de leur situation economique incertaine et precaire. A cet effet, ils combinent des recherches de terrain comparatives experimentales avec des recherches ethnographique economiques dans deux groupes de petites exploitations agricoles, les Mapuche du Chili et les Sangu de Tanzanie. Ces experimentations, malgre des lacunes methodologiques, mettent en doute les approches theoriques standards. Concues afin de mesurer les preferences pour le risque directement, elles montrent que les Mapuche et les Sangu expriment une preference pour le risque dans leurs prises de decisions - suggerant que de facon generale les agriculteurs de subsistance n'agissent pas en fonction d'une aversion envers le risque. D'autre part, la preference pour le risque semble s'expliquer essentiellement en fonction du groupe culturel. En conclusion, les AA. esquissent brievement une alternative theorique au modele standard.

The Influence of Gender on the Perception and Response to Investment Risk: The Case of Professional Investors

In a previous issue of this journal, O'Barr and Conley, noted that cultural differences caused public pension fund managers to invest differently and more conservatively than their private fund counterparts. An additional insight to is that cultural factors have a non-trivial affect on how assets are managed. This article continues with this theme and suggests that, even with equivalent training, experience and information, investment managers make different decisions based on identifiable cultural differences. This study focuses on professional men and women investment managers who perceive and respond to risk differently. This supports O'Barr and Conley, suggesting cultural factors may be responsible for this risk related gender effect. There is extensive evidence that when faced with social and technological hazards, women are more risk averse than men. This appears to be so even when decision-makers of both genders have the same level of expertise and experience. In the investment realm, non-professional women investors also appear to accept less risk than their male counterparts, after controlling for factors such as age, education, wealth and experience. Although the precise reason for this gender difference in risk taking is unknown, it appears to be related to evolutionary and social factors. This paper is unique in that it investigates the risk/gender difference for professionally trained investors. It is found that women investors weight risk attributes, such as possibility of loss and ambiguity, more heavily than their male colleagues. In addition, women tend to emphasize risk reduction more than men in portfolio construction. While gender differences appear to influence perceptions of risk and recommendations to clients, these differences tend to be the most significant for assets and portfolios at risk extremes.

Gender Differences in Nutritional Risk Among Older Rural Adults

Older adults are vulnerable to nutrition-related health problems due to health and psychosocial changes that accompany aging. Those in rural communities face additional problems. This study characterizes the nutritional risk of rural older adults using the Nutritional Risk Index (NRI), paying particular attention to gender differences in risk. Data come from face-to-face interviews with a random sample of 638 White rural adults aged 55 and older. Women scored significantly higher on the NRI, indicating greater nutritional risk. Women were more likely to report NRI items related to oral health, special diets, disease interference with eating, gastrointestinal problems, and anemia, whereas men were more likely to report smoking regularly. A comparison with the application of the NRI in other populations indicates that it is sensitive to nutrition-related health conditions that may be more prevalent in rural populations, making it a useful tool for measuring nutritional risk.

Non-dietary risk factors for nasopharyngeal carcinoma in Shanghai, China

A population-based case-control study was conducted in Shanghai, China, to investigate the associations between exposures to various non-dietary variables and risk of nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC). A total of 935 NPC patients and 1,032 community controls were included. Active cigarette smoking was a moderate risk factor for NPC [odds ratio (OR) = 1.28, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.02–1.61]. Results were highly consistent between men and women. It is estimated that 12% of NPC cases in Shanghai, China, can be attributable to cigarette smoking. Among lifelong non-smokers, there was a strong and statistically significant positive association between NPC risk and exposure to substantial secondhand smoke as a child or as an adult in women. However, the associations among lifelong non-smoking men were weaker and not statistically significant. The gender differences in risk associated with passive smoking were either statistically significant or almost so. There were excess numbers of NPC patients compared with control subjects who had a history of chronic ear and nose disease (OR = 1.96, 95% CI 1.56–2.46) and a family history of NPC (OR = 7.47, 95% CI 2.14–12.88). Int. J. Cancer 85:364–369, 2000. ©2000 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

Non-dietary risk factors for nasopharyngeal carcinoma in Shanghai, China

A population-based case-control study was conducted in Shanghai, China, to investigate the associations between exposures to various non-dietary variables and risk of nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC). A total of 935 NPC patients and 1,032 community controls were included. Active cigarette smoking was a moderate risk factor for NPC [odds ratio (OR) = 1.28, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.02-1.61]. Results were highly consistent between men and women. It is estimated that 12% of NPC cases in Shanghai, China, can be attributable to cigarette smoking. Among lifelong nonsmokers, there was a strong and statistically significant positive association between NPC risk and exposure to substantial secondhand smoke as a child or as an adult in women. However, the associations among lifelong nonsmoking men were weaker and not statistically significant. The gender differences in risk associated with passive smoking were either statistically significant or almost so. There were excess numbers of NPC patients compared with control subjects who had a history of chronic ear and nose disease (OR = 1.96, 95% CI 1.56-2.46) and a family history of NPC (OR = 7.47, 95% CI 2.14-12.88).

Severe mitral regurgitation due to mitral valve prolapse: risk factors for development, progression, and need for mitral valve surgery

Patients with mitral valve prolapse (MVP) may develop severe mitral regurgitation (MR) and require valve surgery. Preliminary data suggest that high body weight and blood pressure might add to the irreversible factors of older age and male gender in increasing risk of these complications. Fifty-four patients with severe MR due to MVP were compared with 117 control subjects with uncomplicated MVP to elucidate factors independently associated with severe MR: the need for valve surgery and the cumulative risk of requiring mitral valve surgery. Patients with severe MR were older (p <0.00005), more overweight (p = 0.002), had higher systolic (p = 0.0003) and diastolic (p = 0.007) blood pressures, and were more likely to have hypertension (p = 0.0001) and to be men (p <0.001). In both groups, men had higher blood pressure and relative body weight than women. In multivariate analysis, older age was most strongly associated with MR; higher body mass index, hypertension, and gender were independent predictors of severe MR in analyses that excluded age. Among the 54 patients with severe MR, the 32 (59%) who underwent mitral valve surgery during 11 years of follow-up were older, more overweight, and more likely to be hypertensive than those not requiring surgery. Among patients undergoing mitral valve surgery in 3 centers, mitral prolapse was the etiology in 25%, 67% of whom were men. Using these data and national statistics, we estimate that the gender-specific cumulative risk for requiring valvular surgery for severe MR in subjects with MVP is 0.8% in women and 2.6% in men before age 65, and 1.4% and 5.5% by age 75. Thus, subjects with MVP who are older, more overweight, and hypertensive are at greater risk for severe MR and valve surgery. Higher blood pressure and relative weight in men with MVP appear to contribute to the gender difference in risk for severe MR.

Gender differences in the incidence of AD and vascular dementia: The EURODEM Studies. EURODEM Incidence Research Group.

To study the difference in risk for dementing diseases between men and women. Previous studies suggest women have a higher risk for dementia than men. However, these studies include small sample sizes, particularly in the older age groups, when the incidence of dementia is highest. Pooled analysis of four population-based prospective cohort studies was performed. The sample included persons 65 years and older, 528 incident cases of dementia, and 28,768 person-years of follow-up. Incident cases were identified in a two-stage procedure in which the total cohort was screened for cognitive impairment, and screen positives underwent detailed diagnostic assessment. Dementia and main subtypes of AD and vascular dementia were diagnosed according to internationally accepted guidelines. Sex- and age-specific incidence rates, and relative and cumulative risks for total dementia, AD, and vascular dementia were calculated using log linear analysis and Poisson regression. There were significant gender differences in the incidence of AD after age 85 years. At 90 years of age, the rate was 81.7 (95% CI, 63.8 to 104.7) in women and 24.0 (95% CI, 10.3 to 55.6) in men. There were no gender differences in rates or risk for vascular dementia. The cumulative risk for 65-year-old women to develop AD at the age of 95 years was 0.22 compared with 0.09 for men. The cumulative risk for developing vascular dementia at the age of 95 years was similar for men and women (0.04). Compared with men, women have an increased risk for AD. There are no gender differences in risk for vascular dementia.

Gender Differences in Risk and Communication Behavior: Responses to the New Madrid Earthquake Prediction

This study examines gender differences in communication behavior, risk perception, and preparedness in response to the highly publicized New Madrid earthquake prediction for a 6.5–7.5 Richter magnitude earthquake on December 2–3, 1990. A survey of 629 respondents in November and a follow-up survey of 496 respondents in Februaiy 1991 in the Cape Girardeau, Missouri, community provided the opportunity to assess public response to the false alarm. The analysis includes a panel survey of 290 respondents who agreed in November to a second interview. When compared with men, women were associated with higher levels of interpersonal discussion about the prediction and perceived higher levels of interpersonal and news media influence on their perceptions of the importance of the earthquake prediction. Contrary to previous studies reporting higher levels of news media use for men, no gender differences in news media use were found. A majority of studies of risk perception suggest higher levels of perceived risk for women than men. In this study men were associated with higher levels of risk and lower levels of preparedness.

Gender differences in risk of renal cell carcinoma and occupational exposures to chlorinated aliphatic hydrocarbons

Background: Organic solvents have been associated with renal cell cancer; however, the risk by gender and type of solvents is unclear. Methods: We evaluated the risk of renal cell carcinoma among men and women exposed to all organic solvents-combined, all chlorinated aliphatic hydrocarbons (CAHC)-combined, and nine individual CAHC using a priori job exposure matrices developed by NCI in a population-based case-control study in Minnesota, U.S. We interviewed 438 renal cell cancer cases (273 men and 165 women) and 687 controls (462 men and 225 women). Results: Overall, 34% of male cases and 21% of female cases were exposed to organic solvents in general. The risk of renal cell carcinoma was significantly elevated among women exposed to all organic solvents combined (OR = 2.3; 95% CI = 1.3–4.2), to CAHC combined (OR = 2.1; 95% CI = 1.1–3.9), and to trichloroethylene (TCE) (OR = 2.0; 95% CI = 1.0–4.0). Among men, no significant excess risk was observed among men exposed to any of these nine individual CAHCs, all CAHCs-combined, or all organic solvents-combined. Discussion: These observed gender differences in risk of renal cell carcinoma in relation to exposure to organic solvents may be explained by chance based on small numbers, or by the differences in body fat content, metabolic activity, the rate of elimination of xenobiotics from the body, or by differences in the level of exposure between men and women, even though they have the same job title. Am. J. Ind. Med. 36:54–59, 1999. Published 1999 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

Gender differences in risk of renal cell carcinoma and occupational exposures to chlorinated aliphatic hydrocarbons.

Organic solvents have been associated with renal cell cancer; however, the risk by gender and type of solvents is nuclear. We evaluated the risk of renal cell carcinoma among men and women exposed to all organic solvents-combined, all chlorinated aliphatic hydrocarbons (CAHC)-combined, and nine individual CAHC using a priori job exposure matrices developed by NCI in a population-based case-control study in Minnesota, U.S. We interviewed 438 renal cell cancer cases (273 men and 165 women) and 687 controls (462 men and 225 women). Overall, 34% of male cases and 21% of female cases were exposed to organic solvents in general. The risk of renal cell carcinoma was significantly elevated among women exposed to all organic solvents combined (OR = 2.3; 95% CI = 1.3-4.2), to CAHC combined (OR = 2.1; 95% CI = 1.1-3.9), and to trichloroethylene (TCE) (OR = 2.0; 95% CI = 1.0-4.0). Among men, no significant excess risk was observed among men exposed to any of these nine individual CAHCs, all CAHCs-combined, or all organic solvents-combined. These observed gender differences in risk of renal cell carcinoma in relation to exposure to organic solvents may be explained by chance based on small numbers, or by the differences in body fat content, metabolic activity, the rate of elimination of xenobiotics from the body, or by differences in the level of exposure between men and women, even though they have the same job title.

174. Gender differences in risk of nutritional failure in children with cystic fibrosis

174. Gender differences in risk of nutritional failure in children with cystic fibrosis

SEX-SPECIFIC MORTALITY FROM ADULT T-CELL LEUKEMIA AMONG HUMAN T-LYMPHOTROPIC VIRUS TYPE I CARRIERS

SP-25 Perinatal infection with human T-lymphotropic virus type I (HTLV-I) is a risk factor for adult T-cell leukemia (ATL). Incidence of ATL is generally higher in males than in females, perhaps partly due to younger average age of infection among males. Since age of infection is rarely identifiable for individual carriers, gender difference in risk of ATL among perinatally-infected HTLV-I carriers is hard to quantify. We estimated the sex-specific ATL mortality among perinatally-infected HTLV-I carriers in the population-based, prospective Miyazaki Cohort Study. Six ATL deaths (4 males, 2 females) occurred among 549 HTLV-I carriers. The overall ATL age-adjusted mortality of 226.8 and 57.2 per 105 person-years for males and females, respectively, with a relative risk (RR) of 4.4 for males (p = 0.004). The estimated ATL mortality rates among perinatally-infected HTLV-I carriers were 3 to 4-fold higher than the overall rates, 676.7 and 219.1 per 105 person-years for males and females, respectively (RR = 3.6, p < 0.001) for males. The RR for males compared to females remained significantly elevated after adjustment for person-years attributable to perinatal infection, suggesting that the male predominance in ATL occurrence may not be entirely due to earlier age of HTLV-I infection among males. Gender itself may play a role in the development of ATL.