There's no great mystery why women seek medical treatment more often than men: It's because they are sicker, according to a new study released in Spain.
The survey of 29,000 people found that 38.8 percent of women reported their health as poor or very poor, compared to 27 percent of men. Just over a quarter of women said they had a chronic condition, compared to just over 19 percent of men. This seems to undermine the commonly held belief that women seek treatment more because they are more in touch with their symptoms than men, say researchers.
“These results suggest that the poorer self-rated health of women is a reflection of the higher burden of disease they suffer,” researchers of the Public Health Agency of Barcelona wrote in the European Journal of Public Health.
Although women were found to report poorer health than men who share the same condition, women more commonly suffered from muscular problems, arthritis, and mental disorders.
The researchers concluded that the medical system needs to pay more attention to the unique health concerns of women: “A health system responsive to gender inequalities should increase its efforts in addressing and resolving musculoskeletal, mental, and other pain disorders, usually less considered in favor of disorders with greater impact on mortality.”

Lead researcher Davide Malmusi offered possible explanations for the gender disparities: “There are studies that show that differences between the health status of women and men can be explained by differences in their household income or income source.

“Women are also undergoing more pressure about their body image, and most importantly they are expected to take care of their children and parents and care for their own well being, and self-fulfillment generally falls behind.”