Grant: Planning and Dissemination Grant - Institute Community Support

Unlike sex, which refers to biological characteristics, gender relates to the array of socially constructed roles, relationships, personality traits, and power that society ascribes to the two sexes on a differential basis. Few studies have assessed the effect of gender on health. Thus, the GENESIS PRAXY team, lead by Dr. Louise Pilote, found validated questionnaires to measure aspects of gender in a cohort of young people with acute coronary syndrome. Subsequently, they created a "Gender Index" offering a current and pragmatic option to measure gender within this population. We propose a grant planning meeting bringing an international, multidisciplinary team to Montreal to identify existing gender-related measures and composite scores, identify cohort studies for incorporating gender measurement and develop standard statistical methods to incorporate gender measurement(s) in health research. The goal of the planning meeting is to address several issues that have been raised since the publication of the article by the GENESIS PRAXY Team entitled "Sex versus gender-related characteristics: which predicts outcome after acute coronary syndrome in the young?" (1) Moreover, a meeting will solidify collaborations by establishing an international multidisciplinary team aiming at assessing the impact of gender on health status, we will be poised to launch international studies. There currently is a great momentum for the development of valid instruments that will allow the measurement of the impact of gender and lead to the consideration of gender in enhancing access to care and health outcomes for both men and women. (1) Pelletier, Roxanne, et al. "Sex versus gender-related characteristics: which predicts outcome after acute coronary syndrome in the young?" Journal of the American College of Cardiology 67.2 (2016): 127-135.