Sex Differences in Reporting Osteoarthritic Symptons: A Sociomedical Approach

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Abstract
Sex differences in reports of chronic joint symptoms are examined for 6,913 persons aged 25-74 in the detailed component of the U.S. Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (1971-75). Support is not found for the hypotheses that women are more willing to report chronic joint symptoms or that men are more likely to underreport symptoms. Symptom reporting for both men and women is significantly related to radiographic evidence of osteoarthrosis and two measures of treatment behavior. Men with osteoarthrosis, however, are more likely to report pain than osteoarthritic women, independent of severity of disease and treatment behavior. The sex differentials in symptom reporting for persons with normal x-rays (96% of the sample) are not significant. In general, men and women are found to be more alike than different in reporting chronic joint symptoms. The data indicate that treatment behavior and disease are important intervening factors to consider in a model examining sex differentials in symptom reporting.