COVID-19 Lockdowns Hurt Women More Than Men

By the European Society of Anesthesiology and Intensive Care (ESAIC) December 18, 2021

Survey conducted in Germany, Austria and Switzerland suggests that COVID-19 lockdown measures exacerbated chronic pain, especially in women.

COVID-19’s lockdown measures appear to have had drastically different effects on men and women with chronic pain, with women experiencing more pain, according to new research presented at Euroanesthesia, the annual meeting of the European Society of Anesthesiology and Intensive. Care (ESAIC), held online this year.

The difference between women and men could be linked to the additional care responsibilities and emotional responses generated by the pandemic, researchers say.

Previous research suggests that stressful situations, including war and the aftermath of terrorist attacks, can exacerbate chronic pain. During COVID-19 lockdowns around the world, vulnerable groups were hit particularly hard by increased isolation, loneliness, fear and financial insecurity, as well as the lack of access to usual care. However, the psychosocial impact of COVID-19 on people with chronic pain has not yet been fully explored.

“Our research suggests that the pandemic may have exacerbated chronic pain problems and some gender inequalities,” said lead author Dr. Kordula Lang-Illievich of the Medical University of Graz in Austria. “With chronic pain affecting approximately 20% of the EU adult population, it is vital to understand how people with chronic pain are being affected by the pandemic and to develop pain management interventions that clearly target women.”

To examine how COVID-19 lockdown restrictions in Germany, Austria and Switzerland affected people with chronic pain, researchers invited adults participating in self-help groups who had experienced chronic pain for at least 1 year to complete a web-based survey. . Participants were asked about pain intensity (measured using the Visual Analogue Scale 0-100, where 0 is no pain) before and during the COVID-19 lockdown. They were also questioned about pharmacological and non-pharmacological pain management, physical activity, social and psychological factors.

Of the 579 responses received between July 1 and July 15, 2020, 138 were from men and 441 from women (average age 42 years), most of them from Germany (56%), Austria (33%) and Switzerland (11). %). The researchers calculated the differences in self-reported mean pain levels before and after the initial COVID-19 lockdown and compared levels between genders.

Responses showed that women with chronic pain experienced increased pain intensity during the initial lockdown, compared to their typical pain levels prior to lockdown. While the mean pain intensity score (VAS 0-100) before the first COVID-19 lockdown was similar in men (46.5) and women (45), the mean change in pain intensity was much lower in men (0.8) than in men. women (3.9) .

“While reported pain intensity between men and women was similar before COVID-19, our data clearly shows that women experienced greater exacerbation of chronic pain during the initial lockdown,” Lang-Illievich says. “This likely reflects the disproportionate impact of lockdowns on women, particularly the extra care responsibilities, the increase in domestic violence and their increased vulnerability to anxiety, depression and acute stress – all of which could be expected to affect pain symptoms.”

Meeting: Euroanaesthesia

Abstract

The authors note several limitations of the study, including the over-representation of young women, singles, and higher education levels, as well as the retrospective self-reporting. The study was also limited to German-speaking countries, so a generalization of the data and their interpretation is not possible.