Gender and personality differences in cancer-related pain severity for geriatric patients.

With 75% of cancer patients in the UK over 60 years, and the costs of innovative drugs soaring, how to best identify and hopefully manage cancer-related pain in the elderly is a key issue. A new study published in the Journal of Gender Studies looks into this complex matter and, in claiming gender and personality significantly affect the experience of suffering, questions a ‘one size fits it all’ approach to pain management. While there is a wealth of literature documenting how gender and temperament impact on our ability to cope with physical discomfort, the way ‘gender moderates the association between