Sex differences in referrals to a rehabilitation facility for the physically disabled: A research note.

Abstract

Sex ratios for inpatient and outpatient referrals to a Department of Rehabilitation Medicine and to its psychological services were examined for six general diagnostic categories of injury and disease and compared with known proportions of males and females in the population in these categories. Of the diagnostic categories, only referrals of patients suffering from cerebral vascular accident (CVA) revealed sex ratios significantly different from population estimates. Problems in interpreting the statistics and in judging the adequacy of the estimated sex ratios, which may be confounded by differential age expectancies, were disclosed. RESUMEAnalyse comparee des differences entre sexes chez les patients referes en clinique interne ou extreme dans un departement medical de rehabilitation et dans les services psychologiques qui y sont offerts. Six categories diagnostiques de troubles et de maladies sont considerees et comparees quant aux proportions d'hommes et de femmes impliques dans ces categories. Seule la categorie de patients atteints d'un accident de circulation cerebrate revele des proportions entre sexes significativement differentes des estimes valables pour la population generale. Suite une discussion des problemes poses par I'interpretation des statistiques et par le jugement a porter sur la valeur des proportions entre sexes, problemes susceptibles d'etre compliques par les differences dues aux previsions liees au facteur age.