Focus on Sex and Gender: What We Need to Know in the Management of Rheumatoid Arthritis
Rheumatology Unit, Department of Medical Sciences, University of Ferrara, Via Luigi Borsari 46, 44121 Ferrara, Italy
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Academic Editors: Alfredo De Giorgi, Rosaria Cappadona, Valeria Raparelli and Roberto Manfredini
J. Pers. Med. 2022, 12(3), 499; https://doi.org/10.3390/jpm12030499
Received: 6 March 2022
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Revised: 15 March 2022
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Accepted: 17 March 2022
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Published: 20 March 2022
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Personalized Medicine Interdisciplinary Aspects and Sex Gender-Specific Differences)
Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic inflammatory disease, affecting mostly women with a female/male ratio of 3:1. It is characterized by symmetrical polyarthritis, leading to progressive joint damage. Sex differences have been reported in terms of disease course and characteristics, influencing patients reported outcome measures (PROMs) and pain perception, ultimately leading to male–female disparities in treatment response. Notwithstanding, sex and gender discrepancies are still under-reported in clinical trials. Therefore, there is a consistent need for a precise reference of sex and gender issues in RA studies to improve treat-to-target achievement. This narrative review explores the above-mentioned aspects of RA disease, discussing the latest core principles of RA recommendations, from safety issues to early arthritis concept and management, treat-to-target and difficult-to-treat notions, up to the most recent debate on vaccination. Our final purpose is to evaluate how sex and gender can impact current management guidelines and how this issue can be integrated for effective disease control.
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Keywords:
rheumatoid arthritis; sex; gender; treatments; clinimetrics; treat-to-target; guidelines; immune response
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MDPI and ACS Style
Maranini, B.; Bortoluzzi, A.; Silvagni, E.; Govoni, M. Focus on Sex and Gender: What We Need to Know in the Management of Rheumatoid Arthritis. J. Pers. Med. 2022, 12, 499. https://doi.org/10.3390/jpm12030499
AMA Style
Maranini B, Bortoluzzi A, Silvagni E, Govoni M. Focus on Sex and Gender: What We Need to Know in the Management of Rheumatoid Arthritis. Journal of Personalized Medicine. 2022; 12(3):499. https://doi.org/10.3390/jpm12030499
Chicago/Turabian StyleMaranini, Beatrice, Alessandra Bortoluzzi, Ettore Silvagni, and Marcello Govoni. 2022. "Focus on Sex and Gender: What We Need to Know in the Management of Rheumatoid Arthritis" Journal of Personalized Medicine 12, no. 3: 499. https://doi.org/10.3390/jpm12030499
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