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Women's Health Research Gains Ground, But Gaps Remain

 |  By jsimmons@healthleadersmedia.com  
   September 29, 2010

Boosting research on women's health issues during the past two decades has both improved prevention and treatment and reduced deaths among women related to cardiovascular disease, breast cancer, and cervical cancer, according to a report from the Institute of Medicine. At the same time, it has yielded less—but still significant—progress in reducing the effects of depression, HIV/AIDS, and osteoporosis on women.

However, other health issues important to women have seen less progress over the years, including unintended pregnancy, autoimmune diseases, alcohol and drug addiction, lung cancer, and Alzheimer's disease and dementia. Fewer gains were found to have been made on chronic and debilitating conditions that caused significant higher levels of suffering but lower death rates, an IOM panel says in a consensus report, Women's Health Research: Progress, Pitfalls, and Promise.

In addition, while progress has been made in identifying behavioral determinants of women's health—such as smoking, diet, and physical activity—few studies actually have tested ways to modify these factors among women or examined the impact of social and community factors in specific groups of women, the report added.

"Unfortunately, less progress has been made on conditions that are not major killers but still profoundly affect women's quality of life," said committee chair Nancy E. Adler, PhD, professor of medical psychology and director of the Center for Health and Community, University of California, San Francisco. "These issues require similar attention and resources if we are to see better prevention and treatment in more areas."

Also, while an expanded focus in women's health research has led to decreased rates of female mortality from some diseases, which progress has not been felt by all women. Women who are socially disadvantaged because of their race or ethnicity, income levels, or educational attainment often have been underrepresented in many research studies, the report noted.

To improve the scope of women's health research in the future, the committee recommended that:

  • The National Institutes of Health (NIH) support research on common determinants and risk factors that found with multiple diseases.
  • NIH, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention develop target initiatives to increase research on the populations of women with the highest risks and burdens of disease.
  • Research include greater attention to assessing quality of life issues—for example, functional status or functionality, mobility, or pain—and promoting wellness.

The committee also observed that the public often has been confused by conflicting findings and opposing recommendations emerging from health research, including women's health research. Poor communication—on issues such as mammography—has led to confusion and could adversely affect the care of women, it said.

To ensure that messages are clearly conveyed—and understood by the public—the committee recommended that the Department of Health and Human Services appoint a task force to develop strategies to better communicate research-based health messages to women. These messages should: reach a diverse audience of women; increase awareness of women's health issues and treatments, including preventive and intervention strategies; and decrease confusion regarding complex and sometimes conflicting findings, the committee said.

The committee also suggested calling for all federally funded studies to develop and include a plan for disseminating findings to the public, providers, and policymakers, and establishing a national media advisory panel to explain the research findings to a variety of audiences.

Janice Simmons is a senior editor and Washington, DC, correspondent for HealthLeaders Media Online. She can be reached at jsimmons@healthleadersmedia.com.

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