Gender differences have been identified in epidemiological
studies of patients with pain and in clinical pain
trials.7–9 It has been reported that women have different
pain thresholds and pain tolerances than men.10,11 Some
studies suggest that female patients report higher levels
of pain, receive more analgesics, and are less likely to
have resolution of their pain.8,12–14 However, others
have found no differences in presenting pain levels or
success of pain treatment between genders.14–16 These
differences, if they are indeed present, could be due to
differences in a person’s pain detection or pain expression
systems, but could also be due to the accuracy of
pain assessment and measurement in research models.