Sex differences in neurology: a scoping review protocol

Abstract

Introduction: Sex and gender are independently important in health and disease but have been incompletely explored in neurology. This is in part contributed to by the pre-existing male bias in scientific literature that results in fewer females being included in clinical research and the often interchangeable use of sex and gender in the literature. This scoping review intends to identify the advances as well as under-explored aspects of this field to provide a road map for future research. This paper outlines the methods for a scoping review of published, peer-reviewed literature on sex and gender differences in four subspecialty areas of neurology: demyelination, stroke, epilepsy and headache.

Methods and analysis: A detailed search strategy will be used to search five databases pertaining only to sex differences. Specific inclusion and exclusion criteria will be applied to capture relevant literature published from 2014 to 2020. Data will be collected and synthesised to provide an overview of information retrieved, a narrative synthesis of each subspecialty area and map of results.

Ethics and dissemination: Research ethics board approval was not required for this study. This study will aid in mapping recent trends in sex differences in four major neurological conditions and will help identify areas for further research. A manuscript will be compiled for publication and presentations of findings.

Registration details: The final protocol is registered with the Open Science Framework (https://osf.io/n937x/).

Keywords: gender; neurology; scoping review; sex; women’s issues.