Diferencias de sexo y género en el dolor: ¿responden las mujeres a la acupuntura mejor que los hombres?

Pain is a personal subjective multidimensional experience influenced by a number of factors with different origin like biological and socio-cultural. In women, painful experimental stimuli are generally reported to have a greater intensity in comparison with men. Clinical pain is often reported with higher severity and frequency, longer duration, and present in a greater number of body regions in women as compared to men. Women are also more frequently represented in a number of pain conditions such as fibromyalgia, temporo mandibular dysfunction, migraine, rheumatoid arthritis and irritable bowl syndrome. The mechanisms underlying these differences are still unclear but factors ranging from biological to psychosocial could all contribute. Relating to the biological factors, quantitative as well as qualitative differences in the endogenous pain inhibitory systems as well as the influence of gonadal hormones have been implicated. Psycho-social factors like sex role beliefs, pain coping strategies, and pain related expectancies may also contribute. Taken together the above findings suggest that gender aspects should be taken into consideration when designing and assessing the effects of acupuncture treatments.