The following is a summary of “Achieving Equity in Emergency Medicine Quality Measures Requires a Sex and Gender Lens,” published in the July 2023 issue of Emergency Medicine by Thomas et al.

Quality measures within the Emergency Medicine (EM) field were formulated to standardize and enhance healthcare provision. Their progress has been hindered by insufficient attention to sex- and gender-related disparities. Medical research has indicated that biological sex and gender can influence clinical care and treatment provision. The incorporation of sex and gender disparities is imperative to develop evidence-based quality measures in the field of emergency medicine that ensure fairness and equality for all individuals.

The review aims to present a concise chronicle of EM quality measures and the significance of incorporating sex- and gender-based evidence in their formulation to ensure fairness, with acute myocardial infarction (AMI) as an illustrative case. The present quality measures about AMI, such as the duration between the onset of symptoms and the performance of an electrocardiogram, as well as the time it takes to initiate percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) once the patient arrives at the hospital, may exhibit significant and adjustable differences when categorized based on gender. Even when presenting with signs and symptoms indicative of AMI, female patients often encounter a delay in diagnosis and subsequent medical intervention.

Limited research has been conducted on interventions aimed at alleviating these disparities. However, the available data indicate that sex-based inequality can be reduced by implementing medical strategies, such as using a quality control checklist. Quality measures were developed to provide high-quality healthcare services based on evidence and standardized. However, the absence of sex and gender metrics in these measures may hinder the progress toward achieving equitable healthcare.

Source: sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0736467923001622