Sex or gender differences in treatment outcomes of sepsis and septic shock

Abstract

Gender disparities in intensive care unit (ICU) treatment approaches and outcomes are evident. However, clinicians often pay little attention to the importance of biological sex and sociocultural gender in their treatment courses. Previous studies have reported that differences between sexes or genders can significantly affect the manifestation of diseases, diagnosis, clinicians' treatment decisions, scope of treatment, and treatment outcomes in the intensive care field. In addition, numerous reports have suggested that immunomodulatory effects of sex hormones and differences in gene expression from X chromosomes between genders might play a significant role in treatment outcomes of various diseases. However, results from clinical studies are conflicting. Recently, the need for customized treatment based on physical, physiological, and genetic differences between females and males and sociocultural characteristics of society have been increasingly emphasized. However, interest in and research into this field are remarkably lacking in Asian countries, including South Korea. Through this review, we hope to enhance our awareness of the importance of sex and gender in intensive care treatment and research by briefly summarizing several principal issues, mainly focusing on sex and sex hormone-based outcomes in patients admitted to the ICU with sepsis and septic shock.