Sex Differences in Patient Reported Outcome Measures after Stroke: What's New and What's Next?

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: We examined recent literature on sex differences in patient reported outcome measures (PROMs) after stroke and explored potential solutions to reduce these sex differences RECENT FINDINGS: Recent studies confirm that women generally have worse health related quality of life (HRQoL) and greater participation restriction after stroke than men. These differences are mostly due to age, stroke severity and risk factors at the time of stroke, but also social factors like living alone and access to evidence-based care. Sex specific concepts of health, influenced by a range of social and psychological factors, may affect responses to PROMs. Some commonly used PROMs have measurement invariance by sex, which could influence the sex differences we see in outcomes after stroke. Potential solutions to address sex differences in outcomes after stroke include improving study design; increasing health professional awareness; improving the overall health of women and men in the population; and quality improvement programs to ensure women receive evidence-based stroke care.