Gender differences in self-care for common colds by primary care patients : a European multicenter survey on the prevalence and patterns of practices (the COCO study)
(2021) In Journal of Gender Studies 30(7). p.756-771- Abstract
Although generally harmless, the common cold disturbs the lives of billions yearly. It is frequently treated by self-care, yet little is known about the effect gender may have on self-care. Our study set out to discover whether self-care for common colds differs by gender. We also wanted to test the ‘Man cold’ belief: that men ‘break down’ when they have a cold and suffer more than women when they are sick. We distributed questionnaires asking for a selection of self-care practices in eight categories to 3,240 consecutive patients in 14 Eurasian countries at 27 primary care sites. Of 2,654 patients included, 99% reported engaging in self-care for common colds. Discomfort was reported more frequently by women (74.7% vs. 66.5%, p <... (More)
Although generally harmless, the common cold disturbs the lives of billions yearly. It is frequently treated by self-care, yet little is known about the effect gender may have on self-care. Our study set out to discover whether self-care for common colds differs by gender. We also wanted to test the ‘Man cold’ belief: that men ‘break down’ when they have a cold and suffer more than women when they are sick. We distributed questionnaires asking for a selection of self-care practices in eight categories to 3,240 consecutive patients in 14 Eurasian countries at 27 primary care sites. Of 2,654 patients included, 99% reported engaging in self-care for common colds. Discomfort was reported more frequently by women (74.7% vs. 66.5%, p < 0.001). There were gender differences in several self-care categories. The mean use of self-care items was higher in women than in men (12.0 vs. 10.3, p < 0.001). Women reported a greater variety of self-care items than men. However, more men reported using alcohol (17.8% vs. 8.4%, p < 0.001). This cross-national study documented gender differences in self-care for common colds.
(Less)
- author
- Hoffman, Robert D.
; Thielmann, Anika
; Buczkowski, Krzysztof
; Edirne, Tamer
; Hoffmann, Kathryn
; Koskela, Tuomas
; Lingner, Heidrun
; Mevsim, Vildan
; Tekiner, Selda
; Zielinski, Andrzej
LU
; Hoffman Cicurel, Naomi
; Petrazzuoli, Ferdinando
LU
; Thulesius, Hans
LU
; Gerasimovska Kitanovska, Biljana
and Weltermann, Birgitta
(Less) - organization
- publishing date
- 2021
- type
- Contribution to journal
- publication status
- published
- subject
- keywords
- common cold, gendered norm, Health behaviour, home remedy, Man Cold, self care
- in
- Journal of Gender Studies
- volume
- 30
- issue
- 7
- pages
- 756 - 771
- publisher
- Taylor & Francis
- external identifiers
-
- scopus:85096161482
- ISSN
- 0958-9236
- DOI
- 10.1080/09589236.2020.1843010
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- id
- 12f7b49d-d6ab-4b56-86dc-e9f5287eaaa2
- date added to LUP
- 2020-11-27 11:31:14
- date last changed
- 2022-04-26 22:10:30
@article{12f7b49d-d6ab-4b56-86dc-e9f5287eaaa2,
abstract = {{<p>Although generally harmless, the common cold disturbs the lives of billions yearly. It is frequently treated by self-care, yet little is known about the effect gender may have on self-care. Our study set out to discover whether self-care for common colds differs by gender. We also wanted to test the ‘Man cold’ belief: that men ‘break down’ when they have a cold and suffer more than women when they are sick. We distributed questionnaires asking for a selection of self-care practices in eight categories to 3,240 consecutive patients in 14 Eurasian countries at 27 primary care sites. Of 2,654 patients included, 99% reported engaging in self-care for common colds. Discomfort was reported more frequently by women (74.7% vs. 66.5%, p < 0.001). There were gender differences in several self-care categories. The mean use of self-care items was higher in women than in men (12.0 vs. 10.3, p < 0.001). Women reported a greater variety of self-care items than men. However, more men reported using alcohol (17.8% vs. 8.4%, p < 0.001). This cross-national study documented gender differences in self-care for common colds.</p>}},
author = {{Hoffman, Robert D. and Thielmann, Anika and Buczkowski, Krzysztof and Edirne, Tamer and Hoffmann, Kathryn and Koskela, Tuomas and Lingner, Heidrun and Mevsim, Vildan and Tekiner, Selda and Zielinski, Andrzej and Hoffman Cicurel, Naomi and Petrazzuoli, Ferdinando and Thulesius, Hans and Gerasimovska Kitanovska, Biljana and Weltermann, Birgitta}},
issn = {{0958-9236}},
keywords = {{common cold; gendered norm; Health behaviour; home remedy; Man Cold; self care}},
language = {{eng}},
number = {{7}},
pages = {{756--771}},
publisher = {{Taylor & Francis}},
series = {{Journal of Gender Studies}},
title = {{Gender differences in self-care for common colds by primary care patients : a European multicenter survey on the prevalence and patterns of practices (the COCO study)}},
url = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09589236.2020.1843010}},
doi = {{10.1080/09589236.2020.1843010}},
volume = {{30}},
year = {{2021}},
}