A new study has highlighted a recurring difference in the way men and women are treated by healthcare systems, with women less likely than men to receive active medical treatment for the same or comparable conditions.
Researchers from the University of St Andrews reviewed published research examining whether patients' sex or gender was associated with differences in the treatment they received. Their findings, published in PLOS One on 16 September 2026, suggest that differences in medical treatment appear across several areas of healthcare, including cardiology, surgery, transplant medicine and emergency care.
The researchers stressed that the review cannot establish that every treatment difference represents unequal care. However, they said the consistency of the findings warrants closer examination of how treatment decisions are made.
Women Were Less Likely to Receive Active Treatment
The research team, led by Miriam Veenhuizen and Andrew O'Malley, began with 1,112 published studies before narrowing the evidence to research that directly examined measurable differences in treatment between male and female patients.
The final scoping review included 41 papers. Of 38 retrospective case series examining patient records, 33 found a statistically significant difference between the treatment received by male and female patients. Among 29 studies that used multivariable analysis, 25 also reported a significant treatment difference.
The treatments considered included interventions such as surgery, stents, transplantation-related treatment and strong painkillers.
Importantly, the researchers found that almost none of the studies identified clinical guidelines recommending different treatment on the basis of sex. That leaves an important question: whether the observed differences reflect appropriate clinical decisions based on individual circumstances, or whether other factors are influencing who receives more active treatment.
Doctors' Views of Women's Symptoms Examined
One of the issues raised by Dr Andrew O'Malley was the way women's symptoms can sometimes be interpreted during medical assessments.
O'Malley said other research has found that doctors more often attribute women's symptoms to anxiety and make more diagnostic errors with female patients, including in situations where test results are positive. He presented this as part of the wider evidence clinicians should consider when examining how treatment decisions are made.
This point is separate from the review's main numerical findings. The St Andrews researchers did not conclude that anxiety explanations were responsible for all of the treatment differences identified in their analysis.
Instead, the study raises the broader issue of whether assumptions about patients can influence clinical decision-making.
The Pattern Appeared Across Several Medical Specialities
Dr Miriam Veenhuizen, an honorary lecturer at the University of St Andrews School of Medicine, said the consistency of the findings was particularly notable.
According to Veenhuizen, differences appeared across cardiology, surgery, transplant medicine and emergency care and remained in most studies after statistical adjustment. She also suggested that the historical under-representation of women in clinical trials may be relevant, because medical guidelines have traditionally been based heavily on evidence involving men.
The review itself, however, does not establish a single cause for the differences. Its authors describe the evidence as fragmented and identify the need for more research into how sex and gender influence actual treatment decisions.
Research from Dr Miriam Veenhuizen and @OMalleyFife and the @StAndMedicine finds that women are less likely than men to be offered active medical treatment for the same conditions.
— University of St Andrews (@univofstandrews) September 17, 2026
Read more....👇https://t.co/3k6HXpYxZa#EverToExcel pic.twitter.com/ALBJcoYTbn
Researchers Say There Is a Major Research Gap
Another finding concerned how little research has examined differences in the treatment of patients compared with research into gender inequality affecting healthcare professionals.
The researchers identified 551 papers published between 2018 and 2023 that examined gender-based differences in opportunities given to doctors and other health professionals. By comparison, only 41 papers examined differences in treatment received by patients.
Veenhuizen described this imbalance as a significant gap in the evidence.
The researchers now plan to investigate whether similar differences appear in the responses produced by generative artificial intelligence systems. They are particularly interested in whether AI systems trained on existing medical literature and clinical records could reproduce patterns already present in healthcare data.
Between 2018 and 2023, 551 papers examined sex and gender differences in opportunities for healthcare professionals. Only 41 measured differences in the treatment patients received. Our PLOS ONE scoping review with Miriam Veenhuizen, out today, synthesises those 41.
— Dr Andrew O'Malley (@OMalleyFife) September 16, 2026
Of 38…
What the Study Does, and Does Not, Show
The findings do not mean that women universally receive worse medical care or that doctors routinely dismiss women's symptoms. The research examined a relatively small body of studies covering different medical conditions and healthcare settings, and the authors themselves say the reasons for the treatment differences are not entirely clear.
What the study does show is that measurable differences in treatment between male and female patients have repeatedly appeared in published research.
For the researchers, that makes the findings a reason to look more closely at whether treatment decisions are being based on patients' individual clinical needs rather than assumptions.
The study, Measured treatment differences between sexes and genders: A scoping review, was published in PLOS One by Miriam Veenhuizen and Andrew O'Malley on 16 September 2026.
