Gender differences in reporting pain

In many epidemiological pain studies, women more frequently report more int ense, frequent and long-lasting or chronic transient pain than men. In our retrospective study including hospitalised patients referred to a pain cent re, prevalence of headaches, musculoskeletal pain and somatoform pain was o bserved in women, as described in the literature. Generally pain intensity was higher in women and pain was more frequently controlled in men, but whe n intensity and pain control were compared according to the pain aetiologie s, no gender difference was found. Drug treatments were adapted to pain aet iologies, which accounted for the observed differences. In hospitalised patients the significant differences observed in intensity, pain control and treatment reflect the heterogeneity of pain aetiologies r ather than gender differences.