Library guides: Gender equity: Overview

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International Women's Day 2023

Women's Experience in Anaesthesia - Reflections from the Operating Room

International Women's Day webinar.

Moderator: Carolina Haylock-Loor (Honduras)
Panellists: Bertille Ki (Burkina Faso), Jannicke Mellin-Olsen (Norway), Sheila Myatra (India)

Spotlight

International Women’s Day 2023
For International Women’s Day 2023, we approached a number of fellows to reflect on some of their experiences as women in medicine. We thank all who contributed, as well as those who respectfully declined.

You are all a part of our story, and we embrace you.

Special Issue: Equity & Inequity in Australia's Health System (MJA)
Equity and inequity in Australia's health system are major themes in this latest issue of the MJA. From the beginning, when research is funded, through to how clinical guidelines are developed, how research is conducted, and, finally, in health outcomes, the articles in this issue explore gender and racial inequities from several angles, including what progress has been made, and where deficiencies remain.

Braithwaite HE, Payne T, Duce N, et al. Impact of female sex on anaesthetic awareness, depth, and emergence: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Br J Anaesth. 2023;131(3):510-522. [AVAILABLE VIA ARTICLE REQUEST] Keywords: connected consciousness; depth of anaesthesia; general anaesthesia; intraoperative awareness; sex.
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Abstract
Background: Suggested anaesthetic dose ranges do not differ by sex, likely because of limited studies comparing sexes. Our objective was to systematically synthesise studies with outcomes of unintended anaesthesia awareness under anaesthesia, intraoperative connected consciousness, time to emergence from anaesthesia, and dosing to achieve adequate depth of anaesthesia, and to compare between females and males.

Methods: Studies were identified from MEDLINE, Embase, and the Cochrane library databases until August 2, 2022. Controlled clinical trials (randomised/non-randomised) and prospective cohort studies that reported outcomes by sex were included. Results were synthesised by random effects meta-analysis where possible, or narrative form.

Results: Of the 19 749 studies identified, 64 (98 243 participants; 53 143 females and 45 100 males) were eligible for inclusion, and 44 citations contributed to meta-analysis. Females had a higher incidence of awareness with postoperative recall (33 studies, odds ratio 1.38, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.09-1.75) and connected consciousness during anaesthesia (three studies, OR 2.09, 95% CI 1.04-4.23) than males. Time to emergence was faster in females, including time to eye-opening (10 studies, mean difference -2.28 min, 95% CI -3.58 to -0.98), and time to response to command (six studies, mean difference -2.84 min, 95% CI -4.07 to -1.62). Data on depth of anaesthesia were heterogenous, limiting synthesis to a qualitative review which did not identify sex differences.

Conclusions: Female sex was associated with a greater incidence of awareness under general anaesthesia, and faster emergence from anaesthesia. These data suggest reappraisal of anaesthetic care, including whether similar drug dosing for females and males represents best care.
Zipper ML, Klingelhöfer D, Groneberg DA, Bendels MHK. Sex equality in high-quality anaesthesiology research: A descriptive bibliometric study on scientific authorships [epub ahead of print, 2023 Jul 15]. Eur J Anaesthesiol. 2023;10.1097/EJA.00000000000018
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Anaesthesiology research has made a huge shift in sex distribution owing to the increasing number of women entering the field. This article discusses the effects of this shift on sex equality in anaesthesiology, based on scientific authorships.
Yang Q, Desai MS. Five Women American Society of Anesthesiologists Presidents: Their Lives and Careers [epub ahead of print, 2023 Jun 23]. Anesth Analg. 2023;10.1213/ANE.0000000000006544. This article examines the only 5 women to become presidents of the American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) so far. Through their personal histories, these physicians tell a collective history of women in this specialty from the 1950s to today.

AudioDigest Spotlight

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Diversity and Inclusion in Medical Research: Impact on Women's Heart Health (7 Sep 2023)
The goal of this program is to improve representation of women in cardiology clinical trials.

ANZCA International Women's Day

To celebrate International Women's Day, the ANZCA Gender Equity Subcommittee answered frequently asked questions about gender equity, unconscious bias, gender balance in anaesthesia and more.

Access the IWD2023 reflections document here.

Access the full list 2022 recordings on YouTube here.

Selected highlights of the2022 recordings can be located on the Multimedia tab of this guide.

Access the full list 2021 recordings on YouTube here.

Inclusion & diversity at ANZCA

For more information about gender equity, including links to information about the Gender Equity Sub-committee, please visit the Inclusion and diversity page on the ANZCA website.

You can read/download the Gender Equity Position Statement, resource toolkit and take self-assessment quiz on the Inclusion and diversity webpage.

Download the NEW Gender equity: Unconscious bias and interview panels toolkit for useful and practical guidance on best practice for facilitating an interview, plus resources and links to training and further education.

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