Newswise — WASHINGTON, D.C. (January 18, 2012) – For the past decade, the Society for Women’s Health Research has advocated for sex-specific reporting of scientific research to illuminate the differences between the sexes. This persistence has finally paid off with the hotly anticipated release of the 2012 Institute of Medicine (IOM) report, Sex-Specific Reporting of Scientific Research: A Workshop Summary, featuring SWHR recommendations on reporting requirements.
On August 30, 2011, IOM hosted a workshop exploring the need for sex-specific reporting of scientific results and potential barriers resulting in the publication of the reports. Experts in women’s health from academia, industry, government, research-advocacy organizations, and editors of leading scientific and medical journals offered recommendations during the workshop and solutions to the problem of underrepresentation of women in scientific reporting. Martha Nolan, JD, SWHR Vice President of Public Policy, emphasized the “great need to identify biologic and physiologic differences between men and women and to understand the implications of the differences for diagnosis and treatment” during her presentation at the workshop.
In the report, Nolan suggested that “it could take less time for research to be translated into medical practice if major journal publishers required analysis by sex and reporting of differences found or lack thereof.”
Phyllis Greenberger, MSW, President and CEO of SWHR said, “SWHR has encouraged scientific journals to report on sex differences data in research for the past decade. We are pleased that the Institute of Medicine convened this meeting showcasing the desperate need for sex-specific reporting and recommending journals report on these differences.”
To further address the underreporting of sex differences, SWHR and its scientific society, the Organization for the Study of Sex Differences (OSSD) published the Biology of Sex Differences, the first scientific journal to exclusively report on sex differences research in November 2010. The quarterly journal is available exclusively online at bsd-journal.com.
By requiring sex-specific reporting of scientific research, greater strides can be made in informing the public about sex differences in the diagnosis, treatment, and prevalence of disease. SWHR has long advocated for this issue and is pleased with IOM’s recommendations.
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For more information on the Society for Women’s Health Research please contact Rachel Griffith at 202-496-5001 or [email protected].
The Society for Women’s Health Research (SWHR), a national non-profit organization based in Washington D.C., is widely recognized as the thought leader in women’s health research, particularly how sex differences impact health. SWHR’s mission is to improve the health of all women through advocacy, education and research. Visit SWHR’s website at swhr.org for more information.
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