In September, the Gallup-Pivotal Women’s Health Survey reported that 34% of U.S. women strongly or somewhat agreed that a health care provider minimized or dismissed their symptoms in the past five years. Thirty-three percent reported being misdiagnosed or unable to get a diagnosis, compared with 21% of men reporting these experiences.
Medical records tell a different story. An epidemiologist and a sociologist, we recently released a study where we paired electronic medical records with detailed interviews with 87 women. We talked to these women about their pain and illnesses, work, family, poverty, violence, and encounters with the health care system.
