Gender-Related Variables for Health Research

Abstract

This study develops a gender assessment tool for use in clinical and population research, including large-scale health surveys involving diverse Western populations. While analyzing sex as a biological variable is widely mandated, gender as a sociocultural variable is not, largely because the field lacks quantitative tools for analyzing the influence of gender on health outcomes. We conducted a comprehensive review of English-language measures of gender from 1975 to 2015 to identify variables across three domains: gender norms, gender-related traits, and gender relations. This yielded 11 variables tested with 44 items in three US cross-sectional survey populations: two internet-based (N= 2,051; N= 2,135) and a patient-research registry (N= 489), conducted between May 2017 and January 2018. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses distilled 11 constructs to 7 gender-related variables: caregiver strain, work strain, independence, risk-taking, emotional intelligence, social support, and discrimination. Regression analyses, adjusted for age, ethnicity, income, education, sex assigned at birth, and self-reported gender identity, identified associations between these gender-related variables and self-rated general health, physical and mental health, and health-risk behaviors. Our new instrument can be used to develop health interventions based on a fuller understanding of gender associations with health.

Development of a gender score in a representative German population sample and its association with diverse social positions

“…In addition, future data collection in health surveys needs to apply targeted recruitment strategies to include better SGM and allow for more differentiated analyses. Data on diverse gender identities can contribute to make gender measures, including the gender score, more inclusive (11). Moreover, we are in crucial need of measures that do not reproduce gender inequalities by using heteronormative and (albeit implicitly) sexist items to assess attitudes on gender norms and roles.…”

“…All variables that showed a significant association with sex assigned at birth (= outcome variable in the prediction model) were then again checked with the aforementioned exclusion criteria. We further excluded variables that described similar phenomena either based on the strength of the bivariate association (where we retained the stronger association) or chose variables that were identified in prior research as relevant variables of gendered practices (9,11,12,16).…”

“…In secondary data analysis, the approach of genderrelated variables has gained increasing attention over the past decade (8)(9)(10)(11)(12). As a survey-based approach, it uses variables not specifically collected to capture gender.…”

“…Yet, these provide, to some extent, reflections or expressions of gendered performance, norms and relations. They pertain to different aspects of life, from caregiving activities, to the distribution of labour and economic resources, and the processes of social support and discrimination (11). These variables allow to identify norms, behaviours and relational characteristics that differentiate between women and men (9,(13)(14)(15), girls and boys (16,17) and most recently also between gender-diverse people (11).…”

“…They pertain to different aspects of life, from caregiving activities, to the distribution of labour and economic resources, and the processes of social support and discrimination (11). These variables allow to identify norms, behaviours and relational characteristics that differentiate between women and men (9,(13)(14)(15), girls and boys (16,17) and most recently also between gender-diverse people (11). Depending on the exact operationalisation, they also enable to generate population-specific gender constructs and try to overcome the limitations of categorical and binary variables (12,18).…”