In April of 1998, this Consortium held a conference that focused on gender and pain. The following information was presented at the Gender and Pain Conference and summarized on the NIH's Gender and Pain website. During this conference various researchers presented their findings regarding pain differences between the sexes in specific diseases, such as fibromyalgia and migraine. They also presented research findings regarding differences between the sexes in pain perception and response in general. Women discuss pain more than men do.
Women cope better with pain than men do.
Society's attitudes towards men and women in pain may influence physicians' treatment of them. The open expression of pain sometimes helps people to obtain better pain control. Pain treatment that works for one sex may not work as well or at all for the other. These issues are particularly important as the population grows older, since women, on average, live 6 years longer than men do. About 1 in 5 older persons reports taking pain-relieving medications several times a week.