Severity and the number of common cold symptoms: Women were expected to report more symptoms & a higher severity; no differences found between men and women in their reports

From 2019... Sex differences in the severity and number of common cold symptoms. Eva Lutgerink. Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences Theses, Utrecth Univ. Jun 2019. https://dspace.library.uu.nl/handle/1874/392930

Abstract: It is commonly believed that men tend to exaggerate the severity of their illness when infected with a respiratory virus. On the contrary, on literature in health, it seems that women are generally the ones who are “sicker”. In the literature there is still a debate on whether men or women tend over-report minor health problems. Therefore, this study examines the effect of sex on the severity and number of common cold symptoms. Hypotheses were derived from literature building on a social constructionist perspective of gender and health. Women were expected to report more symptoms and a higher severity of their symptoms. Also, the effects were expected to be mediated by stress. The results show that there are no differences between men and women in their reports on the severity and the number of common cold symptoms.

Author keywords: sex differences; gender; health; common cold; symptoms