Does sex make a difference in the prescription of treatments and the adaptation to chronic pain by cancer and non-cancer patients?

The literature suggests that the sex of patients is an important factor in understanding how they are treated by health care professionals and how the y adapt to their symptoms. In two groups of patients with chronic pain (n = 428 non-cancer (Study 1) and n 143 cancer-related (Study 2)), men and wome n were compared on medications prescribed, treatment history, and coping an d adaptation. In Study 1 with the noncancer pain patients, there were no si gnificant differences between the sexes in past treatments, current analges ic use:, pain, or disability. Women were significantly more depressed and w ere more likely to receive antidepressants than men. Subgrouping patients o n the basis of pain-adaptation responses yielded groups with distinct psych osocial and behavioral characteristics. In Study 2 with the cancer pain pat ients, men and women did not show significant differences on any variables. Consistent with the results of Study 1, however, psychological subgroups d iffered significantly in pain severity, mood and disability regardless of s ex. The results of both studies suggest that the role of patients' sex in c hronic pain may be less important than their psychosocial and behavioral re sponses. Thus, it appears that knowing the psychological characteristics of patients may be more important than their sex. (C) 1999 International Asso ciation for the Study of Pain. Published by Elsevier Science B.V.